Nora B-52

The Nora B-52 is a Serbian 155 mm self-propelled howitzer designed by the Military Technical Institute and manufactured by Yugoimport SDPR.

History

The first self-propelled Nora B was designed by the Military Technical Institute in 1984 with a modified 152 mm Nora M-84 howitzer mounted on a FAP 8x8 truck bed. It belonged to the third generation of artillery systems. Later, in the 2000s, the Military Technical Institute developed a new fourth generation artillery system with a 52 caliber 155 mm gun for integration on a new system of the Nora family with the B-52 designation.
Serbia has exported the Nora B-52 artillery system, reconnaissance BOV M11, command and battery fire control and meteorological vehicles, ammunition loading trucks, artillery battlefield software for platoon, battery and division level to the armed forces of Myanmar, Kenya, and Bangladesh. One fully equipped battery usually consists of 6–12 self-propelled howitzers, 1–2 BOV M11 reconnaissance vehicles, three BOV M10 command vehicles, 3–6 munition trucks, a communications and workshop vehicle, 2–3 general supply vehicles and 1–2 fire direction and gunfire locator vehicles with radar and sound ranging. With the order for Cyprus, the new BOV M16 Miloš was delivered as the artillery reconnaissance and artillery battery command vehicle instead of the BOV M11.

Variants

B-52 is made in following versions:K0 – first serial variant, open turret, manual power drive and line of sight.K1 – semi-open turret, full automatic, independent automatic navigation, automatic fire and control system, smaller crew number.M03 – semi-open turret, automatic based on K0, K1 designs, with S designation for Serbian Army.KE – semi-open turret, full automatic export variant.K-I – additional armored full automatic with closed turret, new stronger chassis, radar on barrel for measuring projectile trajectory and speed, NBC protected cabin and turret, automated fire-suspension system, smoke grenade launcher, intercom for crew and new software; with M15 designation for Serbian Army.M21 – upgraded variant featuring STANAG 4569 level 2 protection.

NG – upgraded variant with increased auto-loader capacity, 60 second deployment time and fully automatic fire data setting.MGS-25 Aleksandar – newset variant featuring rate of fire of 6 rounds per minute and a maximum firing range of 32.5 km with standard ammunition and 56 km with the 155 mm HE ERFB RA/BB, laser guided long range ammunition, smaller crew, 12 rounds ready for fire in a revolver type of automatic loader, 12 additional ammunition that are stored in a storage box located at back behind the crew cabin and engine-hydraulic compartment, smaller weight, automatic leveling of gun in north direction, new smoke and light grenade. It can be remotely controlled by crew via separate remote control up to 100 meters from vehicle thanks to high level of automation of all functions. As a fully autonomous module it can be mounted on different trucks chassis.

K designation stands for Kamaz chassis, number for orientation of main weapon in relationship to north and letter for level of equipment and/or export designation.
All versions have differences in chassis, armour, turret, loading and support system. All versions with automatic loader features multiple rounds simultaneous impact capability. Standard equipment includes a computerized fire control system and a land navigation system. Ballistic protection is provided against small arms fire, shell splinters and some mines. For training and simulation purposes special computer simulator was developed by Mihajlo Pupin Institute that includes terrain maps of customer country with ability to train up to 3 batteries or up to battalion of 18 gun, including crews for artillery designation on targets.

Ammunition

There are various type of ammunition available that includes domestic and foreign 155mm projectiles as it is JBMOU-compatible. Depending on ammo used different maximum ranges and effects on target can be achieved.

Designation	Type	Range in m	Caliber	Note
M107	HE M88		155 mm	produced by Sloboda
M04	ERFB		155 mm	produced by Sloboda
M02	ERFB/BB		155 mm	produced by Sloboda
M15	HE ERFB RA/BB		155 mm	produced by Sloboda
Krasnopol	BB		155 mm	produced by KBP
M982 Excalibur	BB		155 mm	produced Raytheon
not designated	HE V-LAP		155 mm	in development by Yugoimport SDPR
-	-	-	155 mm	-

Operators

Current operators

Bangladesh – 42 in service with the Bangladesh Army
Cyprus – 24 in service with the Cypriot National Guard
Kenya – 18 in service, 12 more on order
Myanmar – 40 in service with the Myanmar Army
Serbia – 24 in service with the Serbian Army

Future operators

– 48 on order
– 48 on order

Potential operators

– tested by Pakistan Army in 2017
– tested by UAE Army in 2017
– tested by the U.S. Army in 2021 as shoot-off participant together with Archer Artillery System, CAESAR self-propelled howitzer, and ATMOS 2000