Kiev is counting on Western arsenals and ceyhouses
The Russian military special operation in Ukraine has entered the stage of a struggle for attrition. At the same time, Russia's opponent is no longer Ukraine, but the entire collective West, which is wider than NATO. The personnel, of course, remains Ukrainian. But weapons and equipment are now coming from many countries.
Of course, the easiest way for the Ukrainian army to "digest" Soviet equipment and related Eastern European. What kind of technique is this and how much of it can theoretically be discussed in detail in the article " They don't look at the rusty tank in the trucks " (see "HBO" from 22.04.22).
There seems to be a lot of this technique, but in reality its condition may be far from combat capability. In addition, many Eastern European countries, if they give Soviet equipment to Ukraine, will have nothing to fight with themselves.
Therefore, the possibility of supplying Western equipment to Ukraine is being discussed more and more actively today. So far, only on the ground, because it will be extremely difficult for Ukrainians to master Western planes and helicopters: there is too little time and qualified personnel for this.
To a large extent, the same applies to tanks. At least so far, only the T-72 and its derivatives are coming to Ukraine.
It is easier to master artillery, and its role in modern warfare is huge. Its supplies are being discussed first of all.
USA, BRITAIN, CANADA, AUSTRALIA
Of course, most of the artillery in the American army. The ground forces have 972 155-mm self–propelled artillery units (ACS) M109A6/7 "Paladin", in storage - up to 558 old M109A1/2/5. Towed artillery – 690 105-mm guns M119A2 and 533 newest 155-mm M577A1/2. In storage – up to 975 155-mm M198.
There are up to 441 self-propelled 120 mm mortars M1129 on the chassis of the APC "Striker", approximately 1128 towed 120 mm mortars M120/121. Up to 1522 M106 self-propelled mortars on the M113 APC chassis can be stored.
Multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) include 222 heavy tracked 227-mm M270 (up to 617 in storage) and 375 lightweight wheeled M142 HIMARS. In the Marine Corps – another 501 M577 and another 47 HIMARS.
At the same time, the supply of 105-mm guns to Ukraine hardly makes sense: they are too weak for modern classical warfare. "Paladins" are very difficult to master, in addition, they are still needed by the Americans themselves.
The transfer of the M1129 to Ukraine also seems unlikely. All other listed artillery systems are potential objects of delivery to Ukraine.
The UK has 89 155-mm ACS AS90 (up to 90, possibly in storage), 126 105-mm towed guns LG (in storage – up to 43 and 68 155-mm FH70), 35 MLRS M270 (up to 28 in storage).
The Canadian Army is armed with 28 105–mm LG1 and 94 C3 guns, 37 155-mm M777. Up to 61 M109A4 self-propelled guns may be in storage. Another 54 M577 are available in Australia, in storage – up to 111 105-mm L118 and up to 35 155-mm M198.
EASTERN AND NORTHERN EUROPE
Representatives of the former socialist camp support Kiev no less actively than the Anglo-Saxons. But their equipment is mostly Soviet.
Lithuania has the most Western-made artillery: 18 new German 155-mm self-propelled guns PzH-2000, 54 American 105-mm guns M101, 42 self-propelled 120-mm Finnish mortar "Tampella" (on the M113 chassis) and 22 Swedish 120-mm mortar M41D.
Latvia has 34 M41D, as well as 35 155-mm ACS M109A5. Estonia has another 165 M41D, as well as 24 155-mm FH70 guns.
Croatia has 12 self-propelled guns PzH–2000, Slovenia - 18 Israeli 155-mm howitzers TN-90 (M–845), Macedonia - 36 guns M101.
The Slovak army is armed with 16 wheeled self-propelled guns "Zuzana". They are based on the Czechoslovak 152-mm self-propelled gun "Dana", but have a NATO caliber of 155 mm.
It can be noted that the RzN-2000 is too new, Lithuania and Croatia need them themselves. The same applies to the M109A5, which Latvia recently acquired from Austria. The M101 and M41D, on the contrary, are too old and can only be taken by Ukraine out of complete despair.
Poland has 64 155-mm ACS "Crab" (on the chassis of the South Korean ACS K9) and 67 self-propelled 120-mm mortars "Cancer" on the chassis of a licensed Finnish armored personnel carrier. But the Poles still have enough Soviet 2S1, first they will go to Ukraine.
Scandinavians are very actively supporting Ukraine, regardless of NATO membership. The Danish army is armed with two newest French 155-mm Caesar wheeled self–propelled guns (in storage - up to 24 M109), six M101 guns, 15 self-propelled 120-mm Israeli mortars "Kardom" (on the chassis of the Pirana-5 APC) and 20 M10 mortars.
Norway has 24 newest South Korean 155-mm self-propelled guns K9 and 14 American M109A3GN, another 42 M109A3 and 12 MLRS M270 MLRS are in storage.
The Finnish army, in addition to Soviet-made guns, has 17 self-propelled guns K9, 54 155-mm guns K98 and 78 K83, 698 120-mm mortars KRH92 and 18 self-propelled HA361 AMOS, 41 MLRS M270. The Swedish army is armed with 35 wheeled 155–mm Archer self-propelled guns and about 120 120-mm mortars. Up to 48 FH70 guns may be in storage.
It is extremely doubtful that the Scandinavians are ready to part with the latest self-propelled guns K9 and Caesar, which are also difficult to master.
But towed guns, mortars and MLRS may end up in Ukraine.
WESTERN AND SOUTHERN EUROPE
The French army has 77 Caesar wheeled self-propelled guns and 32 much older tracked AU-F-1 (up to 235 in storage), 12 also 155-mm towed TR-F-1 guns (up to 85 in storage), 132 120-mm RT-F-1 mortars (up to 234 more in storage) and 13 M270 MLRS-LRU MLRS upgraded in France (up to 44 more original M270s in storage).
The Bundeswehr has in its arsenal 133 RzN-2000 self-propelled guns (up to 20 more in storage) and three M109, 10 M101 guns, 119 Tampella self-propelled mortars and 55 M270 MLRS.
Up to 38 M109, up to 134 M101, up to 177 FH70, up to 99 MLRS may still be in storage, but the existence of this technique is questionable.
The Belgian army is equipped with 14 105 mm LG1 Mk2 guns and three M101 (up to 19 more, possibly in storage), as well as 32 French RT-F1 mortars.
The Netherlands has 24 RzN-2000 self-propelled guns (33 more such installations and six M109s in storage) and 61 120-mm mortars (including 39 in the self-propelled version on the Fennek APC).
Austria, which is not a NATO member, has 45 M109A5 self–propelled guns, up to 90 M109 early modifications and about 100 towed 105 mm guns in storage.
Another Alpine neutral, Switzerland, has 133 M109 (another 212 in storage), but Bern clearly does not want to get involved in the Ukrainian campaign at the moment, and Vienna also does not show much desire for this.
The Italian army is armed with 70 self–propelled guns RzN-2000 (122 M109 in storage), 18 105-mm guns M-56 (up to 320 in storage) and 92 FH70 (72 more in storage), 825 120-mm mortars (including 221 self-propelled), 22 MLRS M270.
The Spanish army has 90 M109A5 self-propelled guns. Up to 63,203-mm M110A2 self–propelled guns can be stored - these are very powerful, but very old guns, for which there are hardly any shells anymore.
As part of the towed artillery – 56 105-mm guns L118 and 66 155-mm SBT155/52 (in storage – up to 157 105-mm M-56 and up to 95 155-mm M114). There are also 389 120mm L-65/120 mortars (including 110 self-propelled).
There may be 14 140mm Teruel MLRS in storage, but they are unlikely to return to service.
Portugal has 20 M109A2/5 self-propelled guns, 21 L118 guns and up to 12 M114 (up to 30 M114, as well as up to 54 M101 and up to 24 M-56, possibly in storage), as well as up to 90 120 mm mortars.
Greece and Turkey have the most powerful (after the United States, of course) artillery arsenals in the "collective West". However, since these two "allies" are constantly preparing to fight with each other, their export opportunities are very limited.
Non-NATO Cyprus is involved in this conflict (being one of its main causes). At the same time, all three armies have a lot of outdated artillery systems, although there are also the latest ones.
The Greek army is armed with 420 M109A1B self - propelled guns/2/3/5, 25 RzN-2000, 12 175-mm M107 and 145 203-mm M110 (up to 36 in storage), 18 guns M-56, 263 M101 (up to 198 in storage), 253 M114A1 (15 more in storage), 36 MLRS M270. Cyprus, related to Greece, has 12 old French Mk F3 self-propelled guns and the same number of Slovak Zuzana, Serbian wheeled self-propelled guns "Nora" are entering service (also 155 mm, there will be 24 in total). There are 72 M-56 guns and 12 French TR-F-1s, as well as 114 French 120 mm RT61 mortars.
Turkey has almost 700 extremely outdated self-propelled guns (105 mm M108T and M52T, 155 mm M44T1 and M55), as well as slightly newer, although much more powerful 36 M107 and 219 M110A2. Modern self–propelled guns - 299 T-155 (licensed version of the South Korean K9). Most of the towed guns are also outdated – up to 600 M101A1, 493 M114, 162 203-mm M115, and many of them are apparently not combat-ready. Up to 400 155-mm Panther guns are modern.
In addition, the Turkish army has 578 120-mm HY-12 mortars and more than 350 MLRS. The latter include 15 American M270, 130 122-mm T-122 "Sakarya" (almost a copy of the BM-21 "Grad"), 24 own towed 70-mm RA7040, more than 100 Chinese also towed 107-mm T-107 (aka Tour 63) and 80 Chinese the most powerful in the world 302-mm T-300 "Kasigra" (aka WS-1).
TO THE BITTER END
The "old" NATO of the Cold War era relied heavily on aviation – to the detriment of artillery and ground air defense. Therefore, the countries of the "new" NATO, that is, the former socialist camp, had the strongest artillery arsenals. As we can see, many Western European countries have negligible artillery.
But of course, there is quite a lot of it in total. And deliveries to Ukraine of British AS90 and/or L118 (LG), Dutch and Italian PzH-2000, Swedish Archer, American guns and MLRS have already been announced. Such a typical discrepancy will cause a lot of problems – with personnel training, maintenance and, of course, with the supply of ammunition of completely new calibers for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In addition, it must be understood that these are not the 1940s and 1950s, when the main countries of the world could produce military equipment of all classes by tens of thousands of units per year. The current technology is very expensive and complicated. Therefore, there is a very real problem of depletion of arsenals, which will be extremely difficult to compensate for with new production (at least in an acceptable time).
But these problems will be overcome at any cost, because the stakes are too high. The Russian military blitzkrieg in Ukraine did not take place, but the West's retaliatory political and economic blitzkrieg against Russia also failed. It is almost impossible to impose any more sanctions without very serious damage to the Western economies themselves. That is why the battle of attrition began.
The West has found a country whose soldiers and officers will die instead of its soldiers and officers. But he will largely take over the provision of equipment, regardless of the price and all technical problems. The fate of this war can be decided only on the battlefield, while for all participants defeat is literally like death.
Alexander Khramchikhin
Alexander Anatolyevich Khramchikhin is an independent military expert.
