350 howitzers is a huge artillery investment. Like a major WWII invasion. How did a third of them break down. That’s a serious issue.
Typical wear and tear. They go to depot for repair then shipped back. It’s pretty much been that way since WWI. HIMARS and MLRS do the same. Break down-depot-return.
Perhaps Ukrainian sabotage took some of them out:
Zelensky called up new conscripts in October when in September he said no new ones would be needed so Ukrainian casualties are probably higher than we think.
I imagine some of them were peeved at being conscripted.
—”How did a third of them break down. That’s a serious issue.”
Nor exactly breaking down, they are wearing out.
Artillery barrels have a service life of a few thousand rounds. And tank barrels even less.
The Russian barrels are no different and they push them to failure. Well, that crew will never ever do that again, or anything else.
Russia’s Artillery Is Wearing Out And Blowing Up
Ukraine does not have the manpower for dedicated support units.
This is a nothing-burger click-bait story.
Without continual preventative maintenance and service based on hourly usage most military equipment will “break down”.
The US military spends a LOT of time on maintenance. The Ukraine does not have the manpower or the time so they are pushing the equipment they have really hard.
This is also older equipment as others have stated.