As part of a newly enunciated army vision, service planners have focused on providing the US with an army that will continue to be responsive and dominant at every point on a conflict spectrum extending from humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, through peacekeeping and peace making, to major theatre wars that could feature weapons of mass destruction; a total force described in the vision statement as "an array of deployable, agile, versatile, lethal, survivable and sustainable formations that are affordable and capable of reversing the conditions of human suffering rapidly and resolving conflicts decisively."

A vital component of this total force package is the Crusader 155mm self-propelled howitzer. Representing a technical revolution in the delivery of tactical fires, Crusader provides the US Army with a range of capabilities unmatched by any other self-propelled fire-support system in the world. Crusader's unique features include: the world's first liquid-cooled artillery cannon with the ability to sustain a ten-rounds-per-minute firing rate; capability of delivering multiple rounds with simultaneous impact on a single target location; a rugged and reliable ammunition handling system necessary to support those fire delivery rates and capabilities; a survivability suite that will protect the crew across the entire conflict spectrum; a state-of-the-art cockpit with embedded command and control to optimise system operations; all carried on a high-mobility platform capable of keeping pace with the most rapidly moving manoeuvre systems on the planet.

Comprised of both self-propelled howitzer (SPH) and re-supply vehicle (RSV), the Crusader system far exceeds the performance of any existing howitzer system. Key performance parameters (KPPs) assigned to the Crusader system include: firing ranges of 40-50km (assisted) to counter stand-off threat capabilities; a firing rate of 10-12 rounds per minute to increase operational mission tempo and to shape the battlefield more quickly; rapid re-supply for continuous support of the manoeuvre force; and speeds of 67-78km/h (highway) and 39-48km/h (cross-country) to unleash the manoeuvre force by ensuring continuity of fire support.

Crusader - the war fighter

An important part of Crusader's overall system capabilities comes from its tracked and wheeled RSVs, capable of re-loading the self-propelled vehicle automatically on the battlefield, much like aircraft can be re-fuelled in the air. Crusader has emerged on a parallel path to the army's evolving medium-weight brigade combat teams. Crusader provides the globally responsive indirect fires that the US Army's brigade combat teams require during escalation operations. In fact, adding Crusader to the army's arsenal will provide a force effectiveness increase of over 50 per cent, giving the US overmatch capabilities on the battlefield for the first time since World War II.

Total force effectiveness

Crusader's lethality reinforced recent army decisions to reduce field artillery battalion force structure from 24 to 18 guns. Supporting analysis shows that Crusader, when compared to a Paladin-supported force, increases total force effectiveness (loss exchange ratio - enemy loss/friendly loss) by as much as 53 per cent while reducing friendly casualties by one-third and logistics requirements for fire support by 15-25 per cent. Crusader provides cost-effective solutions to required improvements in range, rate of fire, massing of fires, accuracy, responsiveness, automated ammunition handling, mobility and survivability.

These combined performance features surpass the lethality goals enunciated by army vision architects who note, "When we deploy, every element in the warfighting formation will be capable of generating combat power and contributing decisively to the fight."

Bottom line: Crusader improves the effectiveness of the entire force, not just the field artillery.

As part of the entire army force, Crusader joined the Army Chief of Staff's October 1999 transformation challenge through a re-design effort that focuses on achieving a significant weight reduction to increase system deployability options. Dual goals to reduce the Crusader system weight through a design refinement while maintaining performance characteristics, mean the re-design effort was not a major redirection of the Crusader programme but rather a modification of the efforts already integral to the system.

Starting with a 55-ton vehicle, the system design reduction was accomplished by reducing the width and length of the vehicle; reducing the payload; kitting higher levels of armour protection; changing the power train and suspension; and using lighter materials. A narrower track and fewer road wheels also reduced overall system weight.

The resulting Crusader system has the same capabilities as the original version in an SPH package of 38-42 tons with a supporting tracked RSV curb weight of 37-38 tons and a supporting wheeled RSV curb weight of 32-33 tons.

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