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February 20, 2001
   
Netherlands RDM Technology has designed a new mobile 105mm artillery system based on a 4x4 truck. This uses the upper portion of an M101 towed 105mm howitzer (designed 60 years ago). The company has sent a prototype to Thailand for trials, and offers to either sell the systems or to convert a customer's existing M101s using a locally-available truck chassis. Such unarmored mobile guns as this (and the French Caesar) are becoming all the rage as a means of mobilizing towed guns at a fraction of the cost of a tracked and armored vehicle. The light weight makes such weapons easy to move in relatively modest aircraft, and local bridges not designed for 40-ton vehicles can often handle truck-mounted guns.--Stephen V Cole