The U.S. Army National Guard conducted tests of newest Hawkeye 105mm self-propelled howitzer during Northern Strike 19 exercise.

The Hawkeye is an experimental vehicle-mounted weapon developed by the AM General and issued to 2-122 FA to test at Exercise Northern Strike 19.

The Hawkeye howitzer system incorporates advances in protection, payload, suspensions and life-cycle sustainment at an affordable price to meet the unique expeditionary requirements of global customers.

The Hawkeye 105mm howitzer significantly raises the levels of mobility, survivability and lethality capabilities for light infantry units with airborne and air assault missions. Easily transportable and delivered by sling load, airdrop, and low-velocity air deployment, the Hawkeye immediately increases readiness and combat power. The system also improves manpower efficiency and has a compact logistics footprint that takes advantage of existing artillery skills to reduce training impacts.

The groundbreaking self-propelled Hawkeye howitzer system, based on HMMWV platform, incorporates soft recoil technology that reduces loads and the weight of stabilizing structures by as much as 50 percent compared to conventional recoil systems. The merging of the soft recoil 105mm weapon system with the iconic, rugged, and proven Humvee has resulted in a dynamic platform that not only provides faster and more accurate firing but also maximizes rapid deploy-and-redeploy, “shoot and scoot” capability, with a crew half the size of traditional towed artillery systems.

The National Guards test platoon is testing the Hawkeye as part of Exercise Northern Strike 19, one of the largest reserve component exercises supported by the U.S. Department of Defense. Its mission is to maximize the full-spectrum combat readiness of National Guard units through realistic, cost-effective joint fires training in an adaptable environment, with an emphasis on cooperation between joint and coalition forces.