Ukrainian soldiers daily release Thousands of rounds were fired at Russian targets using high-tech weapons supplied by the United States and its allies. However, these weapons deteriorate after months of overuse, damage or destruction in battle. New York Times.
According to US Department of Defense officials and others familiar with Ukraine’s defense needs, a third of the approximately 350 Western-made howitzers donated to Kiev have already been deactivated.
“Replacing the howitzer barrel is beyond the capabilities of the soldiers in the field and has become a priority for the Pentagon European Command, which has set up a repair shop in Poland. Western-made artillery pieces provided Ukrainian soldiers with a lifeline for their Soviet-era howitzer when they ran out of ammo, and keeping them operational. It became as important to Ukraine’s allies as providing them with adequate ammunition.
Attempts to repair previously unreported weapons in Poland have allegedly begun in recent months. According to the NYT, the status of Ukrainian weapons is the subject of close attention of the US military, which refuses to discuss the details of the program.
“We are working to ensure that Ukraine has the right support packages for equipment maintenance,” said Daniel Day, spokesman for the US European Command.
Shortly after the invasion, when the ammunition of Soviet-era Ukrainian guns firing 152mm rounds dwindled, NATO standard howitzers firing 155mm bullets became one of Ukraine’s most important weapons.
According to recent US military aid to Ukraine, the Pentagon has sent 142 M777 howitzers to Ukraine, enough to equip about eight battalions. “The Ukrainian Armed Forces used them to bombard enemy troops with 155-millimeter shells and to destroy command posts with a small number of high-precision shells,” the newspaper writes.
“Both Russia and Ukraine struggled to meet the demand for artillery munitions at the front.
Russia turned to North Korea for ammo, while Ukraine asked its allies for more ammo.
According to the publication, the United States has delivered hundreds of thousands of 155mm shells to Ukraine and has promised to supply almost a million more.
“The Ukrainian Armed Forces also received 155 mm shells from other countries. According to the US military, some of these shells and gunpowder loads have not been tested for use in specific howitzers, and Ukrainian soldiers have found in combat that some of them can wear barrels faster,” the text continues.
After the damaged howitzers arrive in Poland, the repair crews can replace the barrels. “Ukrainian officials have said they want to move these repair facilities closer to the front lines so that weapons can be returned to combat faster,” NYT sources said.
“It’s not surprising that these guns have had maintenance issues. “They didn’t get a full training package for them and then they threw them into the war, so you get a lot of wear out,” said Rob Lee, a military analyst at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
The publication notes that Western artillery, supplied to Ukraine in the form of rocket-propelled grenade launchers and howitzers, has completely different maintenance requirements. “For one, HIMARS needs some work to keep firing ammunition contained in containers with preloaded barrels. But howitzers are essentially large firearms that are reloaded with ammunition—bullets weighing about 90 pounds each—and fired hundreds or thousands of times, ultimately damaging the internal parts of the gun,” the article explains.
“The nature of artillery duels, in which the Ukrainian crew often fire from great distances to complicate the Russian counterattack, puts additional pressure on the howitzers. This requires large charges of gunpowder, which generates much more heat and can lead to faster wear of gun barrels,” writes the NYT.
According to the publication, “currently, the Armed Forces of Ukraine fire between 2,000 and 4,000 artillery shells per day, and the Russians are generally lower than this number.” “Over time this velocity has caused problems for Ukrainian soldiers using the M777 howitzer – for example, the bullets did not fly that far and were not as accurate. Some of the issues are partly related to howitzer design. Made from titanium, which is lighter than steel but just as strong, these guns are easier to move around the battlefield and are faster to set up than older guns.
Work on the howitzers is overseen by the US European Command in Stuttgart, but may soon be taken over by a new command that will focus on training and equipping Ukrainian troops.