Inside the Army’s New M109A7 Paladin Howitzer

The M109A7 Paladin self-propelled howitzer is the latest evolution of a gun that has served the U.S. Army since Vietnam.

The 40-ton machine rocked back on its haunches, and launched a 155mm shell through the sky above Fort Bliss, Texas. The round streaked to a target downrange, while the M109A7 Paladin and crew already were on the move.

The activity on the range marked more than routine training. Soldiers from the 4th Battalion, 1st Field Artillery Regiment – a core unit of the 1st Armored Division Artillery – were completing crew-level qualifications on the Army’s newest self-propelled howitzer. 

The M109A7 Paladin is the latest evolution of a howitzer family that has served the U.S. Army since the Vietnam era. This one is built for the modern battlefield, where survival depends on the ability to “shoot and scoot” –  to fire and move before an enemy can retaliate. 

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The new version features a 675-horsepower diesel engine drawn from the Army’s Bradley Fighting Vehicle power pack, along with several other shared components. The combination gives this steel colossus the speed and acceleration to keep pace with frontline armored formations across open desert or broken terrain. Where earlier Paladin variants sometimes struggled to keep up with mechanized units, the A7 can reach speeds of about 38 miles per hour with an operational range of roughly 186 miles. 

Innovations appear inside the turret, as well. Earlier Paladins relied on hydraulic mechanisms to traverse and elevate the massive gun barrel. The M109A7 replaces those systems with an all-electric gun drive and turret control system, improving reliability while reducing the maintenance demands that hydraulic systems often imposed in the field. For soldiers who maintain their equipment and execute fire missions, that matters enormously.

Crews from the “Defender” Battalion ran through five separate missions during qualifications in February. Each gun fired roughly 20 to 25 rounds. Everyone passed.

“It’s basically the start that locks in all the crews for the cannon,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Bradley Beavers, a 21-year field artillery veteran who led the battalion through the process.

The moment carried weight beyond a training checkbox. The battalion had recently returned from a nine-month deployment to Europe, where Beavers watched allied armies modernize their own arsenals with newer guns, better range, and improved precision. 

“I worked with a lot of European armies, and I can tell you that they’re starting to acquire equipment, and they’re getting better artillery equipment, and I kind of watched ours get stagnant,” said Beavers. “So, it’s nice for us to get a hold of something new ourselves and show that we’re still the best Army in the world.”

The Defenders pushed the A7 through its paces in some of the widest maneuver areas of the Army. Fort Bliss sprawls across roughly 1.12 million acres of land in the Southwestern United States. , ideal for training and testing on a system like the M109A7.

With qualifications complete, the Defenders now have soldiers who can take a fire mission, execute it accurately, and be rolling before the dust settles. 

– Based on a story by the Army’s David Poe at Fort Bliss.