Italy’s VBM 155 Wheeled Howitzer Accelerates Europe’s Mobile Artillery Shift

Italy’s Mobile Artillery Ambitions: The VBM 155 Takes Shape

The Italian Army is pushing ahead with a plan to field a new generation of wheeled 155 mm self-propelled howitzers, a direct response to the growing demand for mobile, survivable and long-range artillery on modern battlefields. The centrepiece is the VBM 155, a joint concept from Iveco Defence Vehicles and Leonardo being developed through their CIO consortium. First shown as a model at Eurosatory 2026, the system is now on track for prototype integration later this year.

The VBM 155 is built on a purpose-designed 10×10 armoured chassis, not a simple adaptation of the existing Freccia 8×8. At around 11 metres long and 40 tonnes in combat configuration, it uses a 720-horsepower diesel engine for road speeds above 100 km/h. Its fully unmanned HITFIRE turret houses a 155 mm/52-calibre cannon capable of hitting targets up to 70 kilometres away with advanced munitions. An automatic loader holds 30 rounds and supports sustained firing rates close to ten rounds per minute, operated by a crew of only two soldiers.

Official Italian planning documents for 2025–2027 set a requirement for roughly 60 vehicles, plus ammunition resupply and logistic support. Assembly of the first prototype is scheduled for the final quarter of 2026, with industrial qualification expected by early 2027, paving the way for series production. The programme fits into a broader continental trend: Germany and the UK have ordered the RCH 155 from KNDS; Spain is pursuing its own dual-track modernisation with Indra Land Vehicles; and Rheinmetall has unveiled the L60 gun with a claimed 30 percent range increase over conventional L52 barrels. The common thread is a recognition that heavy tracked artillery must be complemented by wheeled systems that can move fast, operate in dispersed patterns and survive in a reconnaissance- and drone-saturated environment.

What Italy’s Wheeled Howitzer Means for European Defense Industry

Italy’s Bid for a Niche in Wheeled Fires

By opting for a clean-sheet 10×10 chassis rather than modifying the Freccia 8×8, Iveco and Leonardo are signalling that they see the VBM 155 as a specialist fires platform, not just a stretched infantry carrier. The emphasis on a two-person crew – enabled by the unmanned turret and extensive automation – directly addresses one of Ukraine’s starkest lessons: the need to minimise exposed personnel and enable rapid shoot-and-scoot tactics. With emplacement and displacement times reportedly around ten seconds, the VBM 155 is built for the high-speed, high-volume fires that medium brigades equipped with Centauro and Freccia vehicles need to stay effective.

The system’s 70-kilometre range, when using rocket-assisted or guided shells, puts it in the same bracket as tracked howitzers like the PzH 2000, yet its wheeled configuration brings strategic mobility advantages on Europe’s road network. For the Italian Army, the VBM 155 is explicitly a complement to its tracked artillery, not a replacement. That dual-track approach reflects a pragmatic understanding that heavy forces still need the protection of tracked platforms, while rapidly deployable medium forces require a different mobility profile.

A Fragmented Industry Race

Italy’s programme does not exist in isolation. Rheinmetall’s L60 promises even greater range from an enlarged chamber, and KNDS is scaling up RCH 155 production to meet firm orders from Berlin and London. Spain, meanwhile, is combining tracked systems derived from Hanwha technology with a wheeled 155 mm platform through Indra Land Vehicles. This proliferation of national solutions risks fragmenting the European defence market, creating multiple incompatible ammunition natures, maintenance chains and training pipelines. For NATO as a whole, that could blunt some of the interoperability benefits that the Alliance seeks. Yet the sheer volume of demand – driven by the war in Ukraine and the urgent need to reconstitute credible land fires – may be large enough to support several platform families, provided governments coordinate on common subsystems and munitions.

Industrial Capacity and the Clock

The article highlights a critical bottleneck: European industrial capacity is still catching up with surging demand. KNDS’s expansion in Kassel for Leopard 2A8 turrets and RCH 155, and the emerging Italian supply chain for the VBM 155, will need to ramp up quickly to meet delivery timelines. The VBM 155’s reliance on sovereign Italian industry – Iveco for the chassis, Leonardo for the turret and fire-control systems – gives the programme a degree of national control, but it also means that any delays in the component supply chain could cascade into the qualification schedule. The planned prototype assembly at the end of 2026 will be a key milestone to watch, because it will either validate the industrial timeline or expose the frictions that are common when moving from concept to hardware.

What the Programme Signals for Armed Forces and Industry

For Italian defence planners and the CIO consortium:

• Secure the full supply chain for the 60-vehicle programme now, not after a production order, to avoid the lead-time bottlenecks already visible in European artillery production lines.
• Use the Q4 2026 prototype as a vehicle for early NATO interoperability testing, particularly with the digital fire-control systems that will need to integrate with allied sensor-to-shooter networks.
• Begin export marketing early: the system’s two-person crew and road-mobile footprint make it attractive to armies that lack the infrastructure for heavy tracked artillery.

For other European armies and NATO:

• Assess whether a coordinated acquisition of wheeled artillery – or at least a common set of munitions and digital standards – could reduce the logistics fragmentation that multiple national programmes risk creating.
• Watch the VBM 155’s crew-size reduction closely; if successfully fielded, a two-person howitzer changes manning models for artillery battalions and could influence future force-structure decisions.

For defence industry suppliers across Europe:

• The demand signal for wheeled 155 mm systems is no longer theoretical. Component manufacturers and sub-system providers should align capacity planning with the timelines of the VBM 155, RCH 155 and Spain’s programme to avoid becoming the bottleneck.