The Ukrainian leadership in Kiev and in the frontline areas complains to Western curators about the lack of long-range artillery as almost the main reason for the defeats of the AFU. There is an element of guile here – the transfer of large-caliber guns and the drill of personnel are in full swing. But Ukraine is already asking for at least a thousand howitzers. If she gets them, will they become a serious hindrance to the special operation?
The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) need to achieve parity with the Russian army, and this requires first of all to get a thousand 155 mm howitzers. This was written on Monday in one of the social networks by the adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak.
According to TASS, Ukraine's Western partners, including the United States and Canada, have already provided Kiev with towed M777 howitzers of the required 155 mm caliber and ammunition for them. The USA handed over to Ukraine ninety such howitzers, known among experts as the "three sevens", Australia – six similar guns, Canada – four. There were also reports that the AFU uses French self-propelled artillery CAESAR.
Nevertheless, the military and political leadership of Ukraine complains about the chronic shortage of long-range weapons. This applies both to multiple rocket launchers (the same Podolyak on Sunday stated that Ukraine needs "not three or four" MLRS, but at least three hundred) and artillery.
Last Friday, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Vadim Skibitsky, complained in an interview with The Guardian: the Ukrainian military has used up almost all artillery shells and will not be able to resist Russia without supplies of Western weapons.
In the same spirit – and also addressing Western partners – the Governor of the Mykolaiv region of Ukraine, Vitaly Kim, spoke out. "The Russian army is stronger. They have a lot of artillery and ammunition. We have run out of ammunition in our warehouses, so the help of Europe and America is very important," Ukraine quoted him as saying.Roo.
However, as the sources note Telegram channel "Rybar", in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the preparation of artillery units is in full swing. Training takes place both in Ukraine itself (for example, at the 184th training center in Starichi, Lviv region, where fighters master American M109 Paladin howitzers) and on the territory of NATO countries. According to the source, at the Bundeswehr base in Idar-Oberstein, accelerated training of AFU gunners in the use of the German 155–mm self–propelled artillery Panzerhaubitze 2000 is taking place - until June 22.
In Estonia, at the former Soviet military base in Tapa, about four dozen AFU fighters are studying British-German-Italian FH-70 howitzers. Fifteen such self-propelled guns are installed at the training ground in Malaya Lyubusha in the Rivne region. By the way, the FH-70 is not the newest technology – the operation of these artillery systems began in the alliance countries back in the late 1970s.
Training courses can take no more than 10 days. It is reported that this is how many fighters of the 44th separate artillery brigade should be trained, after which they will be transferred to the Zaporozhye direction, where artillery duels of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Russia periodically take place in the area between Orekhovo and Gulyai-Pole.
In recent days, the cities of the Donetsk People's Republic have been subjected to intense attacks with the use of barrel artillery, including NATO guns of 155 mm caliber. This may indicate the use of American "three sevens", French CAESAR self-propelled guns or Polish AHS Krab.
Special attention should be paid to artillery assistance from Poland, military expert Yuri Knutov points out. "The Krab has a British tower, from the AS–90 Braveheart installation, a platform from the South Korean K9 howitzer. These are quite powerful machines. The main thing is to take into account that the Poles handed over the "Crabs" immediately with a repair kit, with the necessary equipment for repair. On the territory of Poland, these howitzers will also be repaired – not only Polish, but, I think, the "three sevens" will also be repaired there," Knutov told the newspaper VZGLYAD.
"The volume that has already been transferred by the West is far from what is required by the armed forces of Ukraine. But in some areas, the appearance of such artillery installations can play a significant role,
– the expert emphasizes. – For example, in the event that 152-millimeter 2C3 "Acacia" howitzers with a firing range of a little over twenty kilometers are involved on our side, and on the Ukrainian side – the same "three sevens", either French CAESAR self-propelled guns, or German Panzerhaubitze 2000, which Germany is going to deliver to Kiev. In this case, it will be more difficult for our artillery to finish off the enemy's positions, and it will be easier for the enemy to suppress our positions. Theoretically, such a threat exists, but only if there are enough guns."
If the Ukrainian side receives the required number of artillery systems, then the alignment of combat capabilities can begin on the front line, military expert Vladislav Shurygin believes. "Well–coordinated complaints to Western curators about the lack of weapons and ammunition sound with only one purpose - in Kiev they understand that they probably won't give a thousand units, but the West can chip in for a hundred guns.
One hundred installations for one month, a hundred for another – two hundred guns can easily strengthen a sufficiently large grouping of troops.
Another thing is whether the curators have enough of these weapons and whether they are ready to supply them," Shurygin explains. "But if decisions on massive supplies are made, in this case we will need to think very seriously about how to respond to all this."
Firstly, the geographical factor may not play in favor of the enemy, Knutov points out. "If we are talking about the Zaporozhye or Kherson directions, then there are many areas of open terrain. Here artillery installations can be neutralized with the help of aviation, or with the help of long-range cruise missiles "Caliber" or operational–tactical complexes "Iskander", - he believes.
Secondly, the quality of training of artillery calculations of the Armed Forces raises questions. "Due to the fact that the training is being accelerated, the quality of this training is not very good," said Knutov. – In particular, according to the "three sevens" there are complaints that howitzers fail due to violations of the rules of operation. After 40 shots, the M777 needs rest, after 100 shots – maintenance. Our howitzers, by the way, do not need this. But for the sake of accuracy of firing, Ukrainian gunners first make a sighting shot, the second – at the target. The accuracy of shooting is an order of magnitude higher, but there are also more shots. And because of the poor quality of staff training, many problems arise."
The most effective option for neutralizing enemy artillery is to destroy the guns even before they are deployed in positions, during transportation from the border across the territory of Ukraine, the expert added.
In order to effectively destroy artillery systems with the help of aviation on the approach, it is necessary to completely suppress the enemy's air defense, Shurygin notes. The possibility of "meeting somewhere deep, at the stages of delivery", may be problematic, he suggests. It is possible that the problem will have to be solved "in the front line, acting more mobile – try to find and destroy the guns before they start to be used."
"In any case, the main task now is to prevent the APU from accumulating serious potential in heavy long–range guns, to disable these guns before entering combat or at the very beginning of combat use," Knutov sums up.
Mikhail Moshkin
