Two soldiers under armor. An uncrewed turret. Automated projectile and charge loading, gun laying and fuze setting.
The Remote Controlled Howitzer 155 is built around a straightforward proposition: move the crew away from the mechanical operation of the gun and hand more of the firing sequence to the machine.
Developed by KNDS Deutschland, the system combines the Artillery Gun Module, an automated artillery module, with the Boxer armored vehicle. Boxer sits within the industrial partnership between KNDS Deutschland and Rheinmetall through their joint venture ARTEC.
The concept is now moving beyond its early adoption phase. Ukraine was the first customer, ordering 54 systems. Germany has since ordered 84, while Britain has committed to 72.
Those numbers matter, but they are not what makes the system particularly significant. The more consequential question is what happens when a 155-millimeter howitzer designed around a conventional gun crew is replaced by one operated by just two soldiers from inside an armored compartment.
Automation can reduce the number of people needed on the gun. Whether it reduces the manpower needed to keep that gun fighting is a much harder question.
Taking the crew out of the turret
The Remote Controlled Howitzer 155 mounts a 155-millimeter, 52-caliber gun in an uncrewed module on Boxer. Its crew consists of just two soldiers, both seated in an armored compartment separated from ammunition storage and handling.
The system automates gun laying, projectile loading, modular charge loading and fuze setting. Navigation and fire control are also highly automated. The vehicle carries 30 ready projectiles and 144 modular charges.
The point is not simply to load the gun faster. Automation changes where the crew sits in the firing sequence. Both operators remain under armor while the artillery module performs the tasks required to engage a target.
The manufacturer also claims the system can fire while moving. The capability has been demonstrated by industry, although its tactical value across different combat conditions remains harder to assess independently.
A comparison with the French CAESAR 8×8 helps put that architecture into perspective. In its semi-automated configuration, the French system carries 36 rounds and uses a crew of three to four, with charge loading remaining semi-automated.
Both systems address the same fundamental requirement: deliver fires, remain mobile and leave a firing position quickly. They differ in how far automation is taken. The Remote Controlled Howitzer 155 puts a much greater physical and functional distance between the crew and the mechanical operation of the gun.
That distinction matters. It shifts part of the survivability equation from how quickly a gun can move after firing to how many tasks its crew can perform without leaving armored protection.
Ukraine puts the concept to the test
Ukraine ordered the Remote Controlled Howitzer 155 before the German Army had adopted it. An initial order for 18 systems was placed in 2022, followed by another 36 in 2023, taking the total to 54.
The first system was formally handed over to the Ukrainian ambassador at the Kassel plant on January 13, 2025. But the first six were initially due to remain in Germany to support the training of Ukrainian personnel.
That distinction between delivery and fielding is important.
Reducing a gun crew from four or five soldiers to two does not make artillery a two-person operation. By January 2025, German authorities said 420 Ukrainian personnel had already been trained as drivers, operators or maintainers in the artillery field.
Ukraine therefore provides an early test of the concept, but not yet a definitive verdict on it. Introducing a highly automated artillery system still requires training and integration, while the public record remains too limited to assess its availability, maintenance burden or actual manpower savings at unit level.
This gets to the central question surrounding the design. Automation can remove jobs from inside the vehicle without removing the work required to keep the vehicle in combat.
Its 30 onboard projectiles still have to be replenished. The vehicle still requires maintenance and repair. Automated systems have to be diagnosed when they fail. Units also have to absorb the loss or temporary unavailability of vehicles and personnel.
Manufacturer specifications describe what automation does onboard the vehicle. They do not yet show how much manpower it saves across an artillery unit.
Germany and Britain take the concept to scale
Germany’s December 19, 2025 order moved the program into a different category. Berlin ordered 84 systems for approximately €1.2 billion, including training equipment, services and logistical support. The purchase sits within a wider framework agreement covering as many as 500 systems and open to other countries.
Britain followed in 2026 with an order for 72 systems under a contract worth close to £1 billion, including initial training and in-service support. The contract was awarded to ARTEC, the joint venture between KNDS Deutschland and Rheinmetall, with a significant share of production due to take place in the United Kingdom.
Those decisions take the debate over automated artillery well beyond a technology demonstrator. Two major European armies are preparing to field significant numbers of guns built around the same basic proposition: a very small crew, an uncrewed artillery module and extensive automation of the firing sequence.
The German and British programs should therefore provide a much broader test of whether the advantages visible inside the vehicle translate into advantages at unit level.
The real measure will not be whether two soldiers can fire the gun. That has already been built into the design. The harder test is whether artillery units built around highly automated guns can generate the same effect, or more, with fewer personnel exposed and a different support structure.
If they can, the most important innovation in the Remote Controlled Howitzer 155 may ultimately extend beyond its uncrewed turret. It may be what that turret forces armies to rethink around the gun.
