Why and how London will supply the APU with self-propelled AS-90 installations
The list of weapons supplied by the UK to Ukraine can be supplemented with 155-mm self-propelled artillery units (ACS) AS-90 Braveheart ("Brave Heart"). The plans of the British government were reported, with reference to its own sources, by The Times newspaper. "Newspaper.Ru" figured out what the AS-90 is and what they can give to the Ukrainian army.
In the extensive list of technical means and small arms supplied by London to Ukraine, the Swedish-British NLAW anti-tank missile systems (ATGMs), short-range anti-aircraft missile systems (SAMs) Strartreeak HVM and American Javelin ATGMs can be called the most powerful.
Now, according to The Times newspaper, the UK is ready to include 155-mm AS-90 self-propelled guns in the list of military assistance to Ukraine, which are difficult to classify as defensive weapons. Western media noted that the United States and its allies have so far refrained from supplying Kiev with heavy weapons, including artillery, tanks and combat aircraft. Thus, the UK may become the first country to break this unspoken taboo.
"The UK's deliveries of heavy artillery systems to Ukraine can become a kind of rubicon, a point of no return in relations between Russia and the West," he told the newspaper.Ru" political scientist, military expert Alexander Zimovsky. - Moscow has big claims on the supply of ammunition and weapons to Ukraine, but so far we are talking about anti-tank and anti-aircraft complexes, which are called lethal, but defensive weapons. With self-propelled artillery installations, everything is much more serious, the British AS-90 armored and tracked, equipped with a 155-mm cannon, are designed to crack the enemy's defenses."
The expert noted that if such British deliveries are carried out, it will be a precedent for other countries.
- added Zimovsky
Despite the fact that AS-90 self-propelled artillery systems were developed in the 1980s, they are still modern weapons systems. This 45-ton installation has a firing range of up to 25 kilometers with a conventional high-explosive projectile and 30 kilometers with an active-jet and can use all standard NATO 155-mm ammunition.
To date, the British Army has 89 AS-90 self-propelled artillery units, which are operated by three regiments of the Royal Artillery and the Royal Horse Artillery (this name is formally preserved as a tribute to British military traditions).
A total of 179 units of such installations were produced. Some of them were decommissioned during operation, some are in storage, their technical condition for combat use is unknown.
"For probable deliveries to Ukraine, it is self-propelled guns from storage bases that can be used, after appropriate maintenance and testing of running and artillery systems," The Times notes.
"The AS-90 is inferior in all respects to the Russian 152-mm self-propelled gun 2C35 "Coalition-SV". However, for the Ukrainian military, in the case of supplies of the "Brave Heart", it will be more modern weapons than the 152-mm self-propelled guns "Hyacinth" and "Acacia" that are in service with the APU. This will strengthen the Armed Forces of Ukraine," said Sergei Belousov, a member of the Board of Military Experts.
In turn, military expert Vladislav Shurygin claims that the supply of British self-propelled guns can turn into problems for the Ukrainian army.
"Among these problems are difficulties with the transportation of such military equipment to Ukraine. It is clear that through Poland, where the AS-90 will be delivered by military transport planes," Shurygin said. - Further movement of self-propelled guns after crossing the border will be carefully monitored. They will be destroyed when detected by the Russian VKS. There is also such a factor as the impossibility of using artillery ranges on the territory of Ukraine itself for the educational process during retraining - due to the use of high-precision weapons of the Russian army during a special military operation. For this, military training grounds on the territory of Poland or the Baltic countries may be involved, and this will take additional time."
Another group of problems, according to the expert, is to provide the British self-propelled guns with the necessary amount of ammunition.
The UK itself can allocate something, something will be withdrawn from Polish arsenals, there will be shells of this caliber in NATO countries neighboring Ukraine. However, everything will again rest on their delivery, so it's not worth counting on special changes in the course of a special operation with the appearance of British self-propelled guns in Ukraine," Shurygin summed up.
Victor Sokirko