In a low-key ceremony at an Elbit Systems plant in Yokneam, the IDF Artillery Corps received its first domestically produced wheeled self-propelled howitzer.

Axar.az informs, citing Israeli media, the Israeli defense contractor officially handed over the system, known in Hebrew as Ro’em (Thunderous) and in English as the SIGMA 155, to the army’s chief artillery officer, Brig. Gen. Ehud Bibi. The 155mm howitzer drove from the plant to Highway 6 and then to Tze’elim base in the Negev Desert for induction and training.

This delivery comes 40 years after the IDF first deployed U.S.-made M109 Paladin systems and follows more than a decade of efforts, some controversial, to replace aging platforms, including foreign options.

Elbit completed the project with a fully Israeli wheeled artillery system featuring automatic shell loading, a reduced crew of three soldiers, a firing range of up to 40 kilometers (25 miles), and advanced command-and-control technology.