T-155 Fırtına: Ukrainian General Staff announced the supply of Turkish self-propelled guns

5 July, 2023 Firtina self-propelled howitzer. Photo: Defense Turk Ukraine expects the supply of Turkish T-155 Firtina tracked self-propelled guns.

Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov, Deputy Head of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, announced this in an interview with Ukrinform. "New systems are expected to arrive, which have not yet been used by units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - such as... Firtina," he shared.

This is the first public statement on the possibility of the Ukrainian Armed Forces obtaining Turkish 155mm ACS.

T-155 Firtina self-propelled howitzer

T-155 Firtina

The T-155 Firtina ACS is a localized version of the famous Korean K9 Thunder howitzer manufactured and assembled in Turkey. According to the statements of the Turkish defense industry representatives, they were able to master the production of all the components of the K9, except for the engine. The Firtina differs from the Korean self-propelled guns by a modified tower, chassis, and Turkish fire control system.

Turkey planned to purchase 350 T-155 Firtina. According to the latest publicly available information, about 280 self-propelled guns were produced for the Turkish military.

T-155 Firtina II self-propelled howitzer

The Turkish industry is implementing the Firtina II project. The upgraded 155/52mm self-propelled gun has a next-generation fire control system.

The commander and gunner got equipped with thermal imaging sights. The air conditioner allows maintaining a constant temperature for the ammunition compartment. The loader system is fully automated.

This made it possible to reduce the crew from five to four people and increase the rate of fire to eight shots per minute. The Firtina II fire range of rocket-assisted projectiles is 40 kilometers. The SPG received a remote-controlled combat module with a machine gun.

Slide from the Ukrainian presentation.

November 2021

In 2021, it was reported that Ukraine offered Turkey to install the 6TD-2 engine on the Firtina II.

The first six Firtina II ACS were transferred to the Turkish military in January 2023.