Artillery in the course of a special military operation is not so often mentioned as effective strikes of "Calibers" and "Iskanders". However, it turns out that guns today play an almost decisive role on the battlefields in Ukraine. How are these weapons used today and how is their effectiveness preserved?
If infantry is the "queen of the fields", communication is the "nerve of the army", then gunners are called "gods of war". This is fully confirmed right now during a special military operation in Ukraine, where the outcome of the battle is often determined by an accurate artillery shot. Artillery duels, counter–battery fighting have become the most effective methods of warfare - guns are back on trend.
Over the past decades, the role of artillery has not exactly diminished, there was simply no possibility of its mass use, as, for example, during the Great Patriotic War. However, the guns remained in price and were developed both in self-propelled and towed artillery. The caliber, firing range and accuracy of destruction have increased. All this was very useful to the Russian army during the current special operation, when it is necessary to hit the enemy's object point-by-point, to clear out positions for the advance of infantry and tanks.
"The role of artillery is of significant importance for any army," the ex–commander of the 40th Army, Colonel-General Boris Gromov, told the newspaper VZGLYAD. – In Afghanistan, almost every one of our positions was reinforced by several calculations of self-propelled artillery installations, not to mention individual artillery regiments that were part of each division. Artillery preparation preceded every combat operation, from local to large-scale. Her fire supported the actions of individual detachments, those who were ambushed and sometimes called fire on themselves.
If we recall the operation "Highway", which we carried out in Khost province in 1987-1988, it was thanks to artillery strikes on previously detected positions of the Mujahideen that it was possible to take the well-fortified Sate-Kandav pass almost without losses and reach the specified positions. I am sure that even now artillery contributes to the successful advance of our troops in Ukraine."
The Russian army uses the entire range of available artillery means during the special operation. The most effective of them is the 152–mm self-propelled gun "Coalition-SV" with a target range of up to 70-80 kilometers. Its rate of fire, thanks to automatic loading, is up to 16 rounds per minute, which allows you to create a "flurry of fire" when the shells fall into the target as from a machine gun belt.
And if the "Coalition" is capable of striking from the deep rear, then the well-known 152-mm self-propelled howitzers "Msta-S" and "Msta-M", hitting targets at a range of up to 30 kilometers, and the ACS 2S3 "Acacia-M", which hits 20 kilometers, are already operating in the front lines of the army. Now the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has demonstrated the operation of these artillery systems with volley fire. One can only guess what happened in the affected area (and the targets were armored vehicles, fortified positions, command posts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine). The Russian military themselves note the high efficiency of artillery fire of this caliber – one shell incapacitates both armored vehicles and protected objects.
And yet, since the time of Afghanistan, and even more so the Great Patriotic War, from the point of view of tactics, a qualitative difference has appeared in the work of artillery. During the special operation in Ukraine, it was revealed in full. We are talking, of course, about the active use of drones to adjust the work of artillery batteries.
Thousands of specialized reconnaissance UAVs are used by Russia in Ukraine, and a significant part of them are designed for close interaction with artillery units. The most common drone of this type is the Orlan-10.
This is confirmed by Russian generals, who recently commanded large formations of the Russian army. They describe in detail the advantages of adjusting the fire with the help of UAVs.
"It is impossible to imagine a modern battle without the use of artillery," former commander of the 58th Army, Lieutenant General Anatoly Khrulev, told the newspaper VIEW. – This is known from all textbooks and manuals that are studied in military schools and academies. Modern combat requires continuous interaction of artillery with motorized rifle and tank units, while clear interaction is necessary to adjust the fire and its maximum effectiveness. With a competent distribution of forces and assigned tasks, it is possible to achieve results with less forces and means, and one artillery division can shovel with less ammunition an area that two or three divisions should "iron" according to textbooks.
The art of artillery combat in our army has never been forgotten, it was constantly improved during exercises, various competitions for marksmanship. All this came in handy during the war with Georgia in 2008. Not five or six firing squads worked, but immediately to defeat – from the first shot. At that time I had one Acacia division, which was covering our battalion tactical group on the approaches to Tskhinvali, at least four divisions were firing from the Georgian side. In this counter-battery struggle, we outplayed them due to stealth, changing positions and accuracy of the first strike."
The Ukrainian army also relies on the use of artillery, of which there were quite a large number in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Now it is no accident that the West is trying to supply Kiev with artillery systems, and very decent ones, among which there are 155-mm American M777 howitzers with a firing range of up to 30 kilometers. In the version of the M777 ER with the use of active-reactive shots, this gun is capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 70 kilometers (although it is reported that these were not delivered to Ukraine). In any case, the Russian military is successfully destroying Ukrainian howitzer positions using aerial reconnaissance and massive artillery strikes.
At the time of the start of the special operation as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the most numerous type of ACS in Ukraine was the 122-mm 2X1 "Carnation", of which there were more than 230 units. They were actively used for the shelling of Donetsk and Lugansk. The second largest self-propelled gun in Ukraine was the 2C3 "Acacia" with a 152–mm gun - there were also about 230 units. The firing range is 17 kilometers (in the Russian version of the Ural Plant of Transport Engineering – more than 20 km).
Ukraine did not modify its installations and limited itself to major repairs, which was complicated by the refusal to supply components from Russia.
The situation is similar with the 203-mm ACS 2S7 "Peony" of 97 installations that were operated by 10%. At the same time, Ukraine positions the "Peony", capable of firing at 47 kilometers, as a kind of "weapon of retaliation". In Russia, this type of artillery armament has been discontinued.
There were also 152-mm Msta self–propelled guns in Ukraine in the amount of 35 units - outdated modifications left over from Soviet times. As well as 18 self-propelled guns 2S5 "Hyacinth" and 40 units of 2S9 "Nona–S" installations based on the BTRD - amphibious variant, which are used by the special operations forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Ukrainian military also uses the 122-mm D-30 cannon, which has been produced since 1960. There were about 130 such units.
"The advantage of the Russian artillery during a special military operation in Ukraine over the enemy's artillery is due to a number of reasons," military expert Vladislav Shurygin told the newspaper VZGLYAD. – Firstly, it is the timely delivery of ammunition, which allows you to have a stock of 3-4 ammunition for each gun, which makes it possible to constantly fire. Secondly, this is a standard type of caliber, mainly 152-mm, and the Ukrainian army is faced with "calibration" when there are simply not enough necessary shells for American howitzers.
Finally, the Ukrainian military became adept at positional warfare, when they had to fire from the same positions, but they were not ready to maneuver. The Russian army, in the course of numerous surprise inspections and large-scale exercises, mastered the skill of moving, changing positions, and honed the accuracy of firing. And I also received more modern weapons that allow me to destroy the enemy from a longer range and with guaranteed defeat."
Victor Sokirko