Stalin called artillery the “god of war”. The physical and psychological damage caused by the sudden arrival of high-explosive shells can shatter military formations. Defended positions and attackers can be devastated by chaos and carnage in a matter of seconds.
The topography of the Donbas should allow for this Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers the ability to use their firepower and mobility much better than they have been able to do so far in this war.
Traveling at speeds of up to 48 km/h over rugged ground – even faster on paved surfaces – tanks can fire at dug-in Ukrainian positions from a mile away and be over them in less than two minutes.
Anti-tank weapons will come in handy in this battle, but reaction times and the ability to shoot accurately will be put to the test as tank shells explode around the defenders’ heads.
Artillery – or indirect fire, to use the correct military term – will be crucial to breaking up these attacking formations before the Ukrainian positions are overrun.
Nicholas Drummond, a defense analyst, believes artillery is still “king of the battlefield.”
“It always has been and in Ukraine it showed more than ever why,” he said.
“Everyone thinks it’s about destroying tanks in Ukraine. To a certain extent that is true, but what was damaging the Russians and killing their combat effectiveness was artillery.”
He’s not the only one saying that. A recent paper by the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) quotes a senior adviser to General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. “Anti-tank missiles slowed the Russians down, but what killed them was our artillery,” he said. “That’s what broke their units.”
Artillery fire is so devastating because “it comes out of nowhere,” Mr. Drummond said, and catches troops in the open or suddenly adds vehicle casualties, causing confusion and a loss of momentum to the attack.
Defending forces use artillery to break up attacking formations. Attacking forces use the same systems to “crawl forward” as their forces advance.
“The last hundred yards is the most hotly contested area in warfare. Any advance must be covered.”
The United States has pledged $165 million (€156 million) for “non-standard” ammunition such as 152mm artillery shells. Britain sends MAMBA, a counter-battery radar, to Ukraine. It will allow Kiev’s troops to find and destroy Russian artillery.
Mr Drummond said if they could do that, Russia’s capabilities would be “completely eroded”.
Russia has self-propelled artillery based on tank hulls such as BM-21GRAD or TOS-1. They can move quickly over virtually any terrain, but are “not disciplined” to move within three minutes.
Ukraine has asked the US for M777 towed howitzers, M109 Paladin, a self-propelled gun, multiple rocket systems (MLRS) and the Switchblade 600.
Both the M777 and the older M109 can hit targets up to 18 miles away.
France has pledged to deliver a dozen Caesar artillery systems with a range of 39 km.
https://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/western-supplied-artillery-can-help-defend-the-donbas-region-41606109.html West-supplied artillery can help defend the Donbass region
