As the other service branches of the Philippine Armed Forces expand their capabilities, such as in the case for the Philippine Navy's additional naval vessels and the Philippine Air Force's never-ending pursuit in securing its comprehensive multi-role fighter jet package, the Philippine Army continues to expand its existing capability, with this one revolving around the increase of its self-propelled howitzers in service.
AS REPORTED IN THE 2025 DND PROCUREMENT MONITORING REPORT (PMR)
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| The Ceasar MKII self-propelled howitzer from KNDS (formerly Nexter) is among the likely candidates of the Philippine Army's additional self-propelled howitzer project. Image gathered from the KNDS website. |
On the previous two (2) projects discussed regarding the additional Miguel Malvar-class frigate and additional anti-submarine warfare helicopters of the Philippine Navy, its primary source of information originated from the same report presented on the transparency section of the Department of National Defense’s own website for the 2nd half of 2025, as this is always a routine among government agencies to post their respective procurement monitoring reports, done by semesters within a fiscal year.
Still on that same report, the Department of National Defense presented a single acquisition project intended for the Philippine Army, one that will help increase the number of self-propelled howitzers active within the service branch.
Currently, the Philippine Army maintains at least twelve (12) ATMOS 2000 self-propelled howitzers made by the Israeli firm Elbit Systems, the same manufacturer that provides military hardware to the service branch, such as the Sabrah light tank.
The interest in the Philippine Army’s self-propelled howitzer platform speaks volumes for its satisfactory performance as used by the service branch’s artillery personnel in terms of its field use, as its shoot and scoot feature gives quicker response time for the troops to provide artillery support on the ground at a shortest time possible, while reducing the risk for the personnel in getting caught from a counterattack, as the platform can get pulled out from its area of concern.
While getting a platform from the same source is an excellent way to go in terms of logistical aspects of operating and maintaining it, other factors are at play that might prompt the planners at the high level to consider other candidates that will help complement the capability and key features for a self-propelled howitzer. This point of concern comes as the discussions on this topic will delve deep into the path this acquisition project will proceed.
Aside from the logistical concerns involving the supplier of the ATMOS 2000 to the Philippine Army, part of the discussion will also cover the preferable candidates for the additional orders made for a self-propelled howitzer platform, whereby multiple references will provide the likely preferable one that the planners of the service branch to consider, as this will help factor in the satisfiable end-user requirements relative to the overall thrust of the service branch under the Revised AFP Modernization Program.
'NOT A REPEAT ORDER OF THE ATMOS 2000 SELF-PROPELLED HOWITZER'
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| The Philippine Army maintains at least twelve (12) total ATMOS 2000 self-propelled howitzer pieces. Image (c) Army Artillery Regiment, Philippine Army (via Wikimedia Commons) |
From a logistical point of view, the purchase of additional self-propelled howitzer units for the Philippine Army will give more sense, especially if this project comes with the order of additional ATMOS 2000 self-propelled howitzer units from Israel’s Elbit Advanced Systems, especially that the service branch already has this type in inventory, and the personnel already having the experience on gaining needed skills relative to its operational, maintenance, and repair requirements.
However, the ongoing situation in the Middle East, which stemmed out from a 2023 conflict that involves the country of Israel itself against the aggression waged by a Palestinian-based group named Hamas, makes the supply chain situation worse, whereby the Israeli defense industrial production takes its country’s military supply needs first before exported products, which affects any prospect that the Philippine Military has in securing Israeli-made weapons like the ATMOS 2000 SPH.
This only got further exacerbated by the silent policy shift from the Philippine government in avoiding established Israeli suppliers like Elbit and Rafael Advanced Systems inexplicably, where the other factor, aside from the supply chain stretch that came as the result of the ongoing conflict that the country has with Hamas, points to the Israeli government’s lack of support to the Philippines’ sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea, especially on both the Kalayaan Island Group and Panatag Shoal.
The backlog that came as the result from the increase in demand for Israeli-made military hardware, especially by the Israeli Defense Force itself, coupled with the not-so-warm reception from the Israeli government in supporting the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea, makes any future military deals with Israeli-based companies a bit of undesirable for the Philippine Armed Forces to consider, likely resulting for the Philippine government through the Department of National Defense to seek other supplier options.
With this primary basis coming into consideration, the Philippine Army’s additional self-propelled howitzer program is now open for other prospective military suppliers to take part in the project.
With this new procurement deal that will probably not be a repeat order of ATMOS 2000 that is already in service within the service branch, this paves the way for interesting self-propelled howitzer designs that will probably have its way into the hands of the country’s troops, providing artillery support in the battlefield.
THE NEW CANDIDATES OF THE PROJECT
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| One of the self-propelled howitzer platforms included in the shortlist is the Excalibur Army's DITA 155mm artillery platform. Image Source. |
With the idea of just buying additional ATMOS 2000 self-propelled howitzer out of the picture, this paves the way for the Philippine Army into seeking different platforms that will complement the Israeli-made artillery pieces already in service, in a manner that it comes with the same performance that the end-user seeks for a self-propelled howitzer, while securing the assurance of timely delivery and an unhampered supply chain that is not affected by any military affairs its host country undertake.
There are at least two (2) platforms that are in the shortlist of what will be the next self-propelled howitzer of the Philippine Army, after Israel’s shortcomings in both the diplomatic and material support front as the Department of National Defense’s desire in improving its materials supply chain limiting to like-minded partners that support the government’s official stance in the West Philippine Sea. These are the Czech-made DITA 155mm SPH and the French-made KNDS CAESAR SPH.
Do take note that while both of the platforms aforementioned are in the shortlist by the Department of National Defense as reported, the details might still change from the time this article publishes as negotiations and the entire procurement process itself is ongoing, with changes on the shortlist might even happen and likely getting narrowed down to the preferred platform by the Philippine Army as the end-user. In this topic, the shortlist will cover the said two platforms, all for the sake of this discussion.
The DITA 155mm self-propelled howitzer is a Czech-made artillery product made by Excalibur Army, the same entity that should have supplied the Pandur II 8x8 armored vehicle chassis for the wheeled variant of the Sabrah Tank under the Philippine Army’s Light Tank Acquisition Project. As marketed, it sports a 155mm NATO caliber barrel, capable of firing artillery rounds of this size while having a maximum firing range of around thirty-nine (39) kilometers.
Compared to the ATMOS 2000 self-propelled howitzer that the Philippine Army currently has in its inventory, the Excalibur DITA has the advantage with its automatic gun aiming along with its armored, air-conditioned cab with a filtration unit. The howitzer cannon of this platform acts as a gun turret, effectively providing artillery support at a wider angle while coming with an onboard guiding system that gives helpful analytics for an effective fire effect results of the Czech-made artillery piece’s salvo.
Such technological advancement for a self-propelled howitzer will be new for the Philippine Army’s personnel if it gets chosen, as this complicates the skills needed to operate, maintain, and overhaul this artillery throughout its service life, with the learning curve going steeper for the personnel who have the skills and experience operating and maintaining the current ATMOS 2000 self-propelled howitzer currently active within the Philippine Army service.
This leaves the second shortlisted platform to be likely the preferable platform that the leadership within the Philippine Army and the Department of National Defense to consider, as the French-made self-propelled howitzer shared most of the operational and maintenance principles to the Israeli-made system where the steep learning curve will probably lessen as familiarity between the ATMOS 2000 and this system will help the service branch in considering this platform.
THE CLOSEST ONE TO THE ATMOS 2000 HOWITZER SETUP
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| The KNDS CAESAR self-propelled howitzer is one of the shortlisted candidates of the Philippine Army's self-propelled howitzer acquisition project. Image Source. |
The said competitor to the Excalibur Army’s DITA 155mm Self-Propelled Howitzer solution is the KNDS CAESAR SPH, in which it is basically similar to the ATMOS 2000 in terms of its artillery configuration, with the howitzer basically fitted on a truck chassis and the ending tip of the artillery aimed to the front of the unit rather than the rotating turret configuration that came with the Czech-made self-propelled howitzer. This configuration gives it an advantage in terms of operational skills and experience-based familiarity.
Like both the DITA 155mm SPH and the ATMOS 2000, the KNDS CAESAR SPH also comes with a 155mm barrel, basically sharing munitions standards across the said platforms that ensures the interoperability of each system in firing the standard 155mm/52 caliber ordnance. The said standardized caliber ordnance for artillery rounds counts as a NATO standard that countries like the Philippines usually follow relative to the firearm calibers used by the armed forces, such as the 5.56mm NATO ammunition standard.
Developed in the 1990s by KNDS predecessor GIAT (Groupement des Industries de l'Armée de Terre) at the time it was a defense entity fully controlled by the French government, the CAESAR self-propelled howitzer has since then become widely used by multiple militaries across the world, which included the French armed forces itself. In Southeast Asia, the operators of this self-propelled howitzer include the countries of Thailand and Indonesia, with the former also possessing the Israeli-made ATMOS 2000 self-propelled howitzer.
This means that for the Philippines, having the KNDS CAESAR self-propelled howitzer helps not only on a smoother and less steep learning curve for the Philippine Army personnel who have the experience in operating and maintaining the ATMOS 2000 self-propelled howitzer from Israel’s Elbit Systems, but also having the benefit of an abundant source of spare parts resource with its number of users, lessening the stress on the country’s logistical chain for maintenance and overhaul purposes.
With its similarity in mind, there are chances that the Philippine Army will consider the French-made self-propelled howitzer system for its expanded capability use for this specialized type of artillery fitted on a vehicle for shoot and scoot operations, although the DITA 155mm self-propelled howitzer solution made by Excalibur Army comes with its own advantage, as its howitzer turret mount comes as a capability plus that expands its circular target area radius as compared to the competition.
IN SUMMARY
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| Any of the two (2) preferred self-propelled howitzers will complement the current ATMOS 2000 in service. Image (c) Army Artillery Regiment, Philippine Army (via Wikimedia Commons) |
The Philippine Army’s acquisition plan regarding the additional 155mm Self-Propelled Howitzer (PGM Ready) Project is simply one part of the service branch’s ongoing efforts into expanding its firepower capability, which coincides with the wider push by the entire Armed Forces of the Philippines to further modernize its capabilities that align to territorial defense posture. This acquisition project entails the organization’s enhancement of coastal-based defense bombardment capability.
Currently, the said service branch possesses at least twelve (12) units of the ATMOS 2000 self-propelled howitzer pieces from Israel’s Elbit Systems Ltd, until a government policy makes the prospect of buying additional units of this type of self-propelled howitzer a less-preferable choice to take. Hence, the tender for this project is now open for other prospective suppliers to secure the contract, hoping that the winning supplier will take a piece of the country’s national defense market.
This push, with the Israel-made self-propelled howitzer now out of the picture, enabled the Philippine Army to get this project with two (2) shortlisted candidates that might get its way into the service branch’s inventory, which as the Excalibur Army DITA 155mm self-propelled howitzer from Czechia, versus the KNDS CAESAR 155mm self-propelled howitzer from France. Each of the presented offers came with its advantages and disadvantages that might entice the end-user to consider each offer.
In terms of interoperability and having a flatter learning curve for existing ATMOS 2000 crew, the French KNDS CAESAR 155mm self-propelled howitzer presented itself at this advantage, as it shares similar artillery fitting design to the Israeli-made one that the Philippine Army currently operates, hastening the integration process for the platform should the end-user choose it as its preferable platform. Meanwhile, the turreted howitzer solution of the DITA 155mm is a marketed feature for Excalibur Army.
Ultimately, the Philippine Army will expand its self-propelled howitzer capability in terms of numbers fielded and overall firepower projection regardless of which platform gets chosen, as this supports the expanded capability of the service branch relative to its mandated duties and responsibilities in ensuring the preservation of the country’s sovereignty and freedom of its populace, all of which are important push for the security and defense of the entire republic from both domestic and foreign threats.
(c) 2026 PDA.
Published from a station in Eastern Visayas.
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