Victory's Arsenal: Queen of War

Despite the increasing technological advancement of the Russian-Ukrainian war, reflected in the growing use of unmanned strike systems, its primary conventional backbone remains artillery strikes. The intensity of artillery fire, especially from the Russian side in the war's early stages, allowed experts to draw direct parallels with the First World War. Both sides employed a tactic of an artillery barrage, though to a lesser extent by the Ukrainians due to several objective reasons.

In anticipation of a full-scale invasion, the ratio of artillery and rocket salvo systems available to Ukraine compared to the aggressor's potential was 1:2 and 1:3, respectively. However, a critical issue for the Ukrainians became the acute shortage of 152mm ammunition for Soviet-era systems predominantly used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Despite Ukraine's attempts to bolster its artillery component post-2014, it failed to restore its ammunition production. The military-political leadership of Ukraine seemingly relied on significant reserves of this ammunition type stored in military depots. However, this complacency turned against them when these depots started exploding one after another, with six such incidents occurring between 2014 and 2018, most attributed directly to Russian sabotage. These explosions resulted in the loss of at least 210,000 tons of ammunition for Ukraine, a stark comparison to the 70,000 tons expended over five years of war in Donbas.

The initial weeks of high-intensity warfare made it evident that Ukraine couldn't sustain such a pace for long. Even the fervent contracting by the Baltic States, which also actively participated in these efforts, failed to rectify the situation. Firstly, these reserves were meager by then, partly due to similar 'mysterious' explosions, as seen in the case of the Czech Republic. Secondly, Russians, through controlled traders, began outbidding Ukrainian offers or breaking contracts on the Eastern European market.

The deficit became notably apparent by the end of spring 2022. At that time, a common situation on the front became responding to seven or eight shots from the Russians with just one from the Ukrainians.

NATO-standard artillery became an urgent necessity voiced by Ukraine during the initial meeting of the "Ramstein" contact group. Encouraged by the meeting's outcomes, where assurances were received regarding the transfer of Western artillery systems to Ukraine, the then Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov declared the official transition of the Ukrainian army to the NATO standard of 155mm caliber weapons. Although deemed somewhat premature, by the end of spring, noticeable NATO-supplied towed artillery had indeed reached the front lines.

Primarily, the American M777 and the Anglo-Italian-German FH-70 emerged. Dubbed the "Three Axes" by Ukrainian servicemen, it earned the epithet "game-changer," at least in the artillery component. However, for effective counter-battery warfare, Ukraine urgently needed self-propelled artillery units (SPGs). Germany was among the first to respond to this request, along with Italy and the Netherlands, providing the Ukrainian Defense Forces with several dozen of the world's most advanced SPGs - the Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH 2000). The first German SPGs were spotted on the front lines in early July 2022.

Panzerhaubitze 2000

The PzH 2000 is a German self-propelled artillery system developed by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. It features a closed-type howitzer on a tracked chassis built using components from the Leopard 2 tank.

The turret and hull of the howitzer are made from homogeneous rolled steel armor, providing protection against bullets up to 14.5mm and shell fragments. The upper part of the hull and turret can be additionally protected by spaced armor against shaped-charge ammunition. The machines also feature filtration and ventilation systems for protection against weapons of mass destruction.

Photo: PzH 2000 Self-Propelled Howitzer's Capabilities. Source: Infographic The Gaze/Leonid Lukashenko

The primary armament of the Self-Propelled Howitzer (SPH) is the 155mm rifled Rheinmetall gun, featuring a chrome-lined barrel, 52 calibers in length, and a semi-automatic lifting breech with an integrated standard magazine capable of holding 32 shells.

The howitzer can perform 3 shots in 10 seconds, employing the Multiple Rounds Simultaneous Impact (MRSI) principle, hitting a target almost simultaneously. The SPH can utilize the entire standardized range of NATO ammunition. The effective firing range depends on the type of projectile: up to 30 km with standard shells, 40 km for shells with improved ballistic characteristics, and up to 56 km for actively reactive shells with enhanced ballistic properties. The firing range of PzH 2000 surpasses most Soviet-era guns and howitzers. To understand its absolute superiority over Russian artillery: the latest serial-produced 152mm SPH "Msta-S" has a firing range of up to 25 km with regular shells and up to 30 km with actively reactive ones.

The PzH 2000 is equipped with fire control computers ADLER or MICMOS 32/MICMOS 2000 with integrated NABK (NATO Artillery Ballistic Kernel) software for autonomous shooting command calculations. Its ballistic computer, satellite and inertial navigation systems determining position, azimuth, height above sea level, and spatial position of the barrel, along with Doppler radar measurements and initial velocity control, make the PzH 2000 a fully autonomous weapon system.

Its speed, ballistic precision, firing range, and high mobility make the PzH 2000 nearly invulnerable in counter-battery warfare.

German SPHs have performed admirably on the battlefield, with only one of them sustaining minor damage from a Russian UAV attack. However, the war experience in Ukraine also revealed their vulnerabilities due to high-intensity use. After the first month of fire, computers on some howitzers started displaying errors. Nonetheless, with Germany establishing a specialized repair hub in Slovakia and with active Lithuanian involvement in repairs, this issue was resolved.

Archer

Another cutting-edge self-propelled artillery system in the possession of Ukrainians is the Swedish SPH Archer. The journey of the "Archer" onto the Russian-Ukrainian battlefields was quite challenging. From the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs' statement about considering the Ukrainian side's request to the actual delivery, more than a year had passed. The decision to transfer 8 of these units to Ukraine was approved by the Swedish Parliament only in March 2023. This delay likely stemmed from the limited number of these machines in Sweden's arsenal. Additionally, it's worth mentioning the commitment to transfer 14 units to Great Britain as part of the replacement scheme, allowing the British to further provide their AS 90 SPHs to Ukraine.

Nevertheless, as of early November, the Archer has already been deployed in combat operations as part of one of the Ukrainian artillery brigades.

The FH77 BW L52 Archer is a technologically advanced 155mm self-propelled artillery system mounted on a 6x6 wheeled platform. It was developed by the Swedish Försvarets Materielverk in collaboration with BAE Systems Bofors AB and Norwegian Kongsberg A.S. The main advantages of the "Archer" are its accuracy, firing range, rapid deployment during combat operations, and ensuring maximum crew protection.

This SPH is equipped with the fully automated 155mm Swedish howitzer FH 77B, featuring a 52-caliber barrel length and a magazine capacity of 21 rounds. It boasts a firing rate of 8-9 rounds per minute, taking the same amount of time for reloading from the accompanying support vehicle.

Capable of firing the entire range of NATO-standard 155mm ammunition, including armor-piercing BONUS rounds and precision-guided Excalibur shells, its maximum firing range varies: 30 km for standard rounds, 40 km for actively reactive shells, and 50 km for the M982 Excalibur guided shell.

Photo: FH77 BW L52 Archer Capabilities. Source: Infographic The Gaze/Leonid Lukashenko

The design of this SPH was developed with a focus on providing maximum crew protection, consisting of 3-4 individuals. The armored cabin has level 2 STANAG-standard protection, safeguarding against 7.62mm armor-piercing bullets, while the chassis withstands an explosive blast equivalent to 6kg of TNT.

As per the manufacturers, the Archer can fire 6 rounds and relocate within 500 meters in less than 2 minutes. While executing its firing task, the crew remains protected within the cabin.

Commenting on the decision to provide these units to Ukraine, Swedish Defense Minister Paul Johnson noted that this weapon is more akin to a sniper rifle than a shotgun and will primarily be used in counter-battery warfare.

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In summary, it's essential to note that the PzH 2000 and Archer aren't the only systems of their class provided by allies to counter Russian aggression. Currently, Ukrainian artillery personnel engage the enemy with French and Danish CAESAR systems, British AS 90s, Italian, Latvian, American, and British versions of the M109 SPHs, Polish Krab, and Slovak Zuzana 2s. Around 350 units have been or will be provided. However, Ukraine also possesses its own 155mm self-propelled artillery in the form of the "Bohdan" SPH. The vehicle demonstrated excellent performance during the liberation of Snake Island last year, and Ukraine has commenced producing 6 "Bohdan" units per month.

Since the beginning of the conflict, the potential of Ukrainian artillery has significantly increased, but so has the need for ammunition. The problem of a shortage of 155mm ammunition faced by European allies needs a solution; otherwise, despite possessing these excellent assets, Ukraine might soon lose its initiative and be compelled to gradually revert to active defense.

In the upcoming piece, we'll delve into long-range artillery systems, particularly Western Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) now in the Ukrainian army's arsenal. Previously, we covered anti-tank missile complexes that assisted the Ukrainian Armed Forces in halting Russian forces near Kyiv in spring 2022. We explored the Ukrainian army's "armored fist" - tanks and other armored vehicles provided by Western partners. Additionally, both light and heavy anti-aircraft defense systems defending Ukrainian cities and "drone killers".