4th Artillery Regiment prepares for an explosive year of danger close

The 4th Artillery Regiment is preparing for an explosive year, ramping up danger close missions and being some of the first to put Queensland made bombs to the test. Read the details.

Australian Army soldiers from 4th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery fire the M777 Howitzer during a live-fire fire mission on Exercise Keris Woomera 2024 in Indonesia. PHOTO: LCPL Riley Blennerhassett

When Australian artillery fire their weapons, it’s an imported American bomb that explodes down the range but that is all set to change as the first Queensland made munitions are rolled out.

The Townsville based 4th Artillery Regiment (4REG) knows how to have a blast and the start of this year is no different as they prepare to send some of the first ever Australian made 155mm M795 artillery ammunition down the range.

The bombs can be used with M777 Howitzers which are currently in service by the Australian artillery and also the AS9 Huntsman self-propelled howitzers which will arrive at 4 REG by the end of 2025.

The ammunition project has been in the works for several years and is spearheaded by Rheinmetall NIOA munitions, who make the projectiles in Maryborough.

The Commanding Officer of 4 REG, Lieutenant Colonel Simon Frewin said while the bombs aren’t in service yet, it’ll be the first time they will be shot by Australian artillery.

“We as Australians have not created our own high explosive artillery ammunition for a very long time and the war in Ukraine has really shown the need to produce our own ammunition or to have a dedicated ammunition line,” he said.

“This project started over 12 years ago, envisaging Australia making its own ammunition rather than receiving it on ships from the US.”

Commanding Officer, 4th Artillery Regiment Lieutenant Colonel Simon Frewin. Picture: Evan Morgan

LTCOL Frewin said the new ammunition will allow them to shoot further than before at a range of around 35 kilometres.

“That means that more things that we can find on the battlefield, we can influence or destroy if the brigade needs us to,” he said.

After a historical start to the year, the unit will work towards the pinnacle of their training year – Exercise Talisman Sabre – by conducting multiple danger close missions which will see soldiers landing explosives within 375 metres of friendly troops.

At the culmination of Talisman Sabre, they will demonstrate their danger close skills to international partners including the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force and the United States.

An Australian Army AS9 Huntsman self-propelled howitzer test fires a practice round at the Proof & Experimental Establishment in Port Wakefield. PHOTO: SGT Matthew Bickerton

“There’s nothing like integration, when you’re standing side-by-side with someone, when a high explosive is going off and the ground is shaking, that makes it all the more real,” LTCOL Frewin said.

After a number of intense weeks in the field, gunners from 4 REG will return to base and take part in the introduction into service training for the assault breacher vehicles arriving at the 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment (3CER).

“This is a big one where all the combined units will come together and we will conduct a combined arms breach,” LTCOL Frewin said.

A combined arms breach brings multiple units together, which could include infantry soldiers, engineers, cavalry, artillery and aviation to overcome an obstacle and provide a pathway forward for an assault.

An Army CH-47 Chinook with an underslung M777 Howitzer from 4th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023 at Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland.

“Artillery is very important in a breach, we need to suppress the enemy on the far side of the obstacle but we also need to obscure the obstacle so that we can reduce the obstacle and get through it,” he said.

The end of the year should bring with it the arrival of the new self-propelled howitzers which individually are worth as much firepower as six M777 howitzers.

“They’re currently down in Victoria … they’re going through their paces down there, driving, testing and making sure that they’re up to spec,” LTCOL Frewin said.

In anticipation of receiving the self propelled howitzers first, the 106th battery will be conducting training on similar models in South Korea this year while other gunners head to PNG as part of mobile training team Bravo.

Originally published as 4th Artillery Regiment prepares for an explosive year of danger close