London: Britain on Sunday signed a joint procurement contract with Germany to acquire mobile artillery systems valued at GBP 52 million (USD 70 million). The deal will provide the British military with an Early Capability Demonstrator (ECD) of the RCH 155 system, while Germany will receive two units for testing, the British Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

According to Qatar News Agency, the deal aims to enable British forces to operate advanced artillery mounted on armoured vehicles, capable of firing on the move and striking targets at ranges of over 70 kilometres. The statement further noted that the system will be manufactured by the Franco-German defence consortium KNDS, in collaboration with Germany's Rheinmetall.