Ukraine has used American-made large-caliber artillery for the first time
According to the report of the Ministry of Defense dated May 18, Russian gunners and rocket launchers inflicted fire damage on a battery of 155-mm M777 howitzers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Earlier, videos appeared on the Internet showing Ukrainian gunners firing at Russian troops and LDPR militia from similar towed howitzers. Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anna Malyar confirmed the authenticity of these materials.
The decision to supply heavy artillery to the conflict zone was made at the end of April by the US President. Joseph Biden promised Kiev 90 72 howitzers and 140 thousand shells to them. They are taken from the arsenal of the American army and transferred by planes to Poland. There they are transferred to the Ukrainian military and sent by rail and road to the Donbass and the Odessa region. As of May 1, the Pentagon handed over to the APU about 80% of the promised number of howitzers, along with half of the shells attached to them. The combat use of the M777 in the Donbass represents another round of escalation of the conflict, since until May of this year, the AFU did not have any Western-made heavy weapons.
In parallel with deliveries from the USA, the M777 comes from the presence of the Australian army (6 out of 54 available) and Canada (4 out of 37). The additional "ten" has been modified to the "A2" standard, which allows the use of an expanded range of ammunition. Canadian instructors take part in the training of Ukrainian gunners together with US National Guard servicemen. It is held at NATO bases in Germany.
According to the Pentagon press service, two groups of 170 and 50 people have been trained, and the third of 150 is being completed.
In terms of firepower, the M777 is inferior to the Soviet 152-mm towed howitzers "Msta-B" (130 units at the beginning of the year), 2A36 "Hyacinth–B" (up to 200), but slightly surpasses the D-20 (up to 120). However, due to the widespread use of titanium and other advanced structural materials, its mass is significantly lower: 4.2 tons versus 7, 10 and 5.7, respectively. This allows transportation by small trucks (class 2.5 tons and above), as well as on the external suspension of the helicopter (the advertising payload of the Mi-17 transport and combat is up to 5 tons). The use of expensive materials was reflected in the relatively high cost, about $ 3.7 million per unit of production in 2017 prices.
The howitzer was designed at the turn of the century by employees of the Vickers design bureau. After passing factory tests, another British company, BAE Systems, bought all the rights to it. The gun never entered service with the British army, but the Americans liked it. Agreeing with their demands, BAE Systems moved most of the production to a new site in Mississippi, leaving only a 30 percent share in the production of serial products for the plant in Barrow. Since 2005, the US military has received about 1 thousand M777. Thus, they stimulated the purchases of other countries, primarily Canada and Australia. In 2011, Saudi Arabia signed a contract for 36 guns and 19,440 shells for them, and later increased the number of barrels to 70. BAE Systems also won a competition in India. After long bureaucratic delays, the order was issued in December 2016 for 145 M777, including 25 ready-made ones. The rest will be assembled at the Mahindra plant.
The original gun did not represent anything outstanding in terms of fire qualities. The full-time crew is 7-8 people, but even 5 gunners can handle the gun. The normal rate of fire is 4 rounds per minute, with good training of the regular calculation – up to 5-6. The standard for unfolding and folding is 6 minutes, but a full, well–trained person can do it twice as fast. The five-meter barrel accelerates the projectile to a speed of 830 m/sec. The maximum elevation angle is 72 degrees, if necessary, the howitzer can hit with direct fire.
The designers of the Vickers company who developed the gun equipped their brainchild with a simple optical-mechanical guidance system based on the use of ammunition of old brands, from the Second World War. Such as the high-explosive projectile M107, which, with a mass of 43 kg, carries less than 7 kg of explosive, forms less than 2000 fragments when ruptured. They made a lot of such OFS and are still stored in warehouses. Developed at the turn of the century, the M795 is distinguished by better aerodynamics and increased high-explosive action (47kg, including 10.8 kg of explosives). Several types of fuses have been created for such OFS: contact, with a time delay, providing detonation above the ground or triggered behind an obstacle.
The experience of using the M777 in Iraq and Afghanistan required further development. It was reduced to the installation of a modern digital firing control system TADS (Towed Artillery Digitization System), implemented since 2014. The visually upgraded M777A2 howitzer is distinguished by the presence of an additional "box" with equipment, uses a color display with an LCD matrix, GPS satellite navigation signals for accurate positioning, equipment for interfacing with unmanned aerial vehicles that search for targets and fire correction. And most importantly, the TADS software allows you to use advanced types of ammunition and, as new ones become available, enter information about them into the database stored by the on-board computer.
In parallel with the introduction of TADS, the development of new means of destruction was underway. The M1175 head unit with a GPS receiver and aerodynamic rudders was put into production. It weighs 1.4 kg, is screwed (into the M795) instead of a conventional fuse and, in addition to its functions, also provides trajectory correction based on satellite navigation signals. When shooting at stationary targets with known coordinates, the circular probable deviation (CVO) decreases several times, up to 10 m. To ensure the destruction of a well-protected stationary target, it is enough to release one or two GPS projectiles instead of 10-50 conventional OFS.
The range of shots for the M777 includes smoke and lighting projectiles, as well as active-reactive ones, in the design of which a small powder engine is provided to raise the trajectory. When using the M549, the howitzer can hit targets at a distance of up to 40 km, but at such a range the CVO is 267 m. Therefore, this projectile did not receive much distribution. Instead, from 2022, a more advanced M1113 with GPS correction is being introduced, due to which the QUO is reduced to 10 m.
The Excalibur 48-kg correctable projectile works even more precisely, but it costs 113 thousand dollars. Nevertheless, seven countries of the world have purchased similar ammunition for themselves, and the United States and its allies have widely used it against Islamists in the Middle East, releasing a total of over 1,400. The advertising firing range of the Excalibur is 40 km. However, only one case is known when in a combat situation it was released at a range of 36 km. And a direct hit on a target in a real battle is reliably confirmed only from a distance of 30 km. The domestic analogue of this product is the Krasnopol-M ammunition. The Russian military used it with great success in Syria and, as can now be seen, during a special operation in Ukraine.
According to the reports of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, during the entire time of the special military operation, about 1.5 thousand units of the AFU barrel artillery were put out of action. The appearance of modern American howitzers, of course, will raise the firing capabilities of the Ukrainian army. The main problem is how to put them in a firing position. The routes of military echelons and convoys are subject to Russian air raids and missile strikes. The situation is even more complicated with the supply of ammunition: The APU has never been engaged in storing NATO-style shells, there are none on the front line in Donbass. And those that were created for Soviet 152 mm caliber systems were almost completely used up or lost as a result of the fire impact of the Russian army. Therefore, the main problem of the APU is not so much in the number of barrels, as in the uninterrupted supply of ammunition to the gunners located along the front line.
Commenting on the facts of the appearance of the M777 in the Donbass, retired Major General, former head of the US Army Field Artillery School Brian McKiernan (Brian McKiernan) said that "this will be a very important addition to the APU's ability to conduct combat operations." It is "very effective" against targets such as lightly armored vehicles, supply vehicles and artillery batteries. "I hope the delivery of the M777 will be our significant contribution to blunting the Russian offensive potential," McKiernan summed up.
However, for this, Ukrainian gunners must not only master the new system perfectly, but also have a sufficient amount of ammunition for it. Corrected projectiles are very expensive, so the Pentagon prefers to poison cheap M107, M795 and M549 to Ukraine. There is another piquant circumstance. The videos captured guns in the Donbass that are not equipped with the TADS firing control system. This means that they cannot use advanced types of projectiles and interact with drones. In short, according to their fire capabilities, the newly arrived M777 differ little from the Soviet Msta-B, Hyacinth-B and D-20.
Where did the TADS go – most likely they were dismantled by the Americans before being delivered to Ukraine. The reason for this could be numerous videos from the Donbass, capturing the rich trophies of the People's Militia of the DPR and LPR. Among them are a large number of American Javeline ATGM, Stinger MANPADS and other "advanced" weapons in technical terms.
Retreating under the blows of the enemy, Ukrainian servicemen throw the weapons entrusted to them. If this happens with the M777A2, TADS with its secret stuffing may fall into the hands of Russian specialists, and they will eventually be able to develop countermeasures. Most likely, this is what the Pentagon fears. Therefore, howitzers are transferred only after "castration", which greatly reduces their abilities.
At the same time, the appearance of the M777 in the arsenal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine should not be underestimated. American supplies not only make up for the losses incurred, but also potentially give the nationalists additional opportunities to "nightmare" the civilian population. If M549 active-rocket projectiles appear in their hands, they will be able to use artillery against remote area targets, such as settlements. Donbass knows many examples of this.
Vladimir Karnozov
