Soltam M-71

The M-71 is a 155 mm 39 caliber towed howitzer manufactured by Israeli company Soltam Systems.

Design
The weapon was based on the earlier Soltam M-68 and uses the same recoil system, breech and carriage but had a longer gun barrel (39 calibre versus 33 calibre of M-68). It is fitted with a compressed air-driven rammer to permit rapid and easy loading at all angles of elevation as well as having a rechargeable battery mounted on the right trail for auxiliary power. It can fire a 43.7 kg high-explosive shell up to a maximum range of 23.5 km at a muzzle velocity of 820 m/s.

Deployment
In addition to Israel, this weapon is in service with Chile, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, South Africa, Slovenia and Myanmar. A version of this weapon was developed to mount on a modified Centurion chassis (M-72), but this vehicle never reached production.

Operators



 * 🇧🇼 Botswana
 * 🇨🇲 Cameroon: 18
 * 🇨🇱 Chile: 60 howitzers used by the Chilean Army, 36 Soltam M-68s acquired in the 1970s later upgraded to Soltam M-71 standard and 24 Soltam M-71 howitzers acquired in the 1980s. 24 designated G-4 howitzers acquired by the Chilean Marine Corps in South Africa in 1992.
 * 🇮🇱 Israel
 * 🇲🇲 Myanmar: 72
 * 🇵🇭 Philippines:
 * Philippine Army: 20
 * Philippine Marine Corps: 6
 * 🇸🇬 Singapore: 13 or 38 - modified to the M-71S standard using less crew + addition of APU.
 * 🇸🇮 Slovenia: 18; M839 variant.
 * 🇿🇦 South Africa: 32; designated G-4.
 * 🇹🇭 Thailand: 32