Don Busack put a collection of my high resolution photos of M109 howitzer on his Prime Portal website: http://www.primeportal.net/artillery/vodnik/m109_walk.htm.

Could someone identify what variant of M109 it actually is? It is not M109 and not M109A6, but I don't know whether this is A1, A2, A3, A4 or A5... I know what were main differences between variants, but they were mostly internal.

Many thanks for hosting these pics, Don!

Pawel

My guess would be an A2, but I flunked on all the other armor test.

I am guessing an M-109 A3.
Based on the flotation bag inflating fixtures are not installed on the top of the hull,forward of the turret.you can see that in the side view picture.
I think (++) (++)

It is actually an M109A5, last version used befor we went to M109A6 Paladin. It has the same cannon as the Paladin, NBC system for crew, upgrded powerplant and trans..

Check this site for more info on M109 family of howitzers and a descriotion of each.

M109s

My knowledge of Modern Artillery probably fits on a small stamp, so this may be a silly question, but flotation bag?? Don't tell me this monster is amphibious...

Cheers
Henk

The M108 (105mm armed version), M109 and M109A1 were semi-amphibious. The floatation equipment was deleted on subsequent M109 variants beginning with the M109A2. Some later M109 variants still show some signs of floatation mounting hardware along the front edge of the hull. They resemble small tow eye holes.

I've got an M109A4 and M109A5 side by side in my motor pool. You can see the difference in the front hull there (click below to enter the motor pool).

Thanks Sabot, it's amazing what you can learn on this site. Semi-amphibious indeed... How would they be propelled? Looks a bit unwieldy to be moved purely by the tracks..

Cheers
Henk

Gino,

I just spent some time with M109A2-M109A5 operating manual and was able to identify the howitzer as M109A4 or M109A5, because only these two variants have power receptacle on the rear right of the vehicle hull - visible on my photos. But how can I tell that it is M109A5? According to manual both A4 and A5 have NBC system. The only new thing in A5 mentioned in the manual is new cannon and mount for it. What are visible differences between older M185 cannon & M178 mount and newer M284 cannon & M182 mount?...

Pawel

I am definitely not an M109 expert. One of the differences I notice between my M109A4 and M109A5 (other than the age/camo scheme) is the series of 6 mounts along the lower front edge of the hull. From looking at the Hunnicutt book (Bradley or Sheridan one, I forget which one covers the M109), I discovered that these mounts were for the swim barrier when the M109 was still amphibious. The M109A4 had the mounts, and the M109A5 did not have them. I do not know if this is a true identifier between the A4 and A5.

Of course, if an M109A5 was rebuilt from an older M109 variant, it may still have those mounts as well. I do not know enough about the M109 series to know if some M109A5s were remanufactured or new vehicles. Same with the M109A4. I don't know if some were new vehicles and would not have the mounts or if they were rebuilt from an older vehicle that still had the mounts.

Based on an assumption that all A4s have the mounts and all A5s do not, I would say that your photo shows an A4 since it has the mounts. But because I trust Gino's expertise on M109s, I'd lean towards it being an M109A5.

I'll take a quick look at the A4 and A5 in my motor pool to see if I can discover any additional identifiers.

Pavel,
M109A5 w/M284 cannon & M182 mount has a longer barrel than M109A4. That is about all the external difference.

Sabot,
Some A5s had the flotation mounts, some didn't. Your assumptions are correct, some were rebuilds from earlier models, some were new manufacture.

Thanks Gino!

Rob,
According to manual:
"Unlike the M109A2 production model, the M109A3 is converted from an M109A1 model with a series of product improvement kits. Also some M109A2 and M109A3 howitzers have been converted to an M109A4 model with product improvement kits.
M109A5 models have been converted exclusively from M109A4 models. In addition to all M109A4 updates, the M109A5 model also modifies the M185 cannon assembly to an M284 cannon assembly and M178 mount to an M182 mount."

So A5s were converted from A4s and these could be converted from both A2s and A3s, which it turn were converted from A1s. So those M109A5, which were converted A1->A3->A4->A5 had floatation hardware mounts and these which were made from A2->A4->A5 did not have them.

Pawel