Defense & Security 2025: BAE Systems prepares M777 bid in Thailand

Australian Army soldiers from 105th Battery, 1st Regiment, Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery, prepare to reload an M777 lightweight towed howitzer gun shortly after firing a round at an exercise in May 2016 in Queensland. (US Department of Defense)

BAE Systems is closing in on an opportunity to supply its M777 155 mm/39 calibre lightweight howitzer to Thailand.

An official from the UK company told Janes at the Defense & Security 2025 show in Bangkok that the M777 has been proposed to meet a Royal Thai Army (RTA) requirement for lightweight towed artillery.

The BAE Systems official said that while the initial requirement is not expansive, likely featuring a procurement of six units, the programme could expand in the future.

Janes understands talks between BAE Systems and the RTA are ongoing in response to a recently released request for information (RFI). The procurement is expected to proceed in 2026.

China is also thought to be preparing bids to meet the RTA's towed lightweight howitzer requirement.

The RFI is a response to a requirement to replace some of the RTA's ageing 155 mm towed artillery, which includes about 32 Soltam M-71s procured in the 1970s and more than 100 US-made M198 howitzers the service acquired from the early 1980s.

BAE Systems developed the M777 from the 1980s to replace the M198.

To date, the M777 howitzer has been fielded by United States, Canadian, Australian, and Indian armed forces, with total orders exceeding 1,200 units.

BAE Systems' last major M777 sale in Asia-Pacific was to the Indian Army, which ordered 145 locally manufactured units for INR50 billion (USD564 million).