Posted on 07/16/2023 7:03:18 AM PDT by tlozo
To the rear of the brutal fighting at the frontlines, Ukraine appears to be making the very best of counter-battery fire to suppress and destroy Russian artillery units.
Though Ukrainian troops continue fighting for breakthroughs in Russian defensive lines, artillery gunners are playing the long game for future artillery supremacy. Counter-battery fire, and especially radars that facilitate it with high accuracy, are playing a big part in this. It has been reported that many Russian artillery units lack counter-battery radar systems to pinpoint incoming fire, with losses of these prized systems having taken their toll in nearly year and half of fighting. In addition, due to their high-tech nature, Russia is hard-pressed to replace them with new units.
Russian accounts of the fighting seem to corroborate a growing Ukrainian artillery advantage in some regard. Former separatist commander Aleksandr Khodakovsky opined that Russian artillery can neither suppress the Ukrainian guns nor compete with their longer range.
Ivan Popov, a top Russian general, was fired recently after laying into Defense Minister Shoigu about how poorly the war is being ran from headquarters, highlighted the lack of Russian counter-battery fire capabilities, in particular. We will talk more about the general's dismissal in a moment.
Some of Ukraine's counter-battery fire has relied upon western-supplied long-range precision artillery, most notably the GMLRS. The GPS-guided Excalibur artillery round, of which thousands have been donated to Ukraine, are also prized weapons for quickly taking out pinpointed enemy batteries with high certainty. The U.S. has also provided counter-battery radars beginning in 2015. Ukraine has been receiving US counter battery radars, such as the AN/TPQ-36, since 2015. U.S. Army. Ukraine has been receiving US counter battery radars, such as the AN/TPQ-36, since 2015. U.S. Army.
Precision long-range fires have also been prioritized against artillery systems beyond counter-battery engagements. Spotting by lower-end drones combined with guided artillery has resulted in numerous examples of 'one shot, one kill' destruction of Russian artillery systems.
The emphasis on counter-battery fire could well be part of a shift in tactics as the counteroffensive continues. The New York Times reported Saturday that Ukraine changed tactics after the first two weeks of combat saw “as much of 20 percent of the weaponry it sent to the battlefield was damaged or destroyed.”
Attrition rates slowed as commanders adapted in the ensuing weeks, but the story noted losses have decreased because the counteroffensive itself has not progressed rapidly.
Intense video shows what these offensive operations look like, as Ukrainian infantry hug the ground and open fire while a BTR wheeled armored personnel carrier opens up with its autocannon over their heads.
While accurate strikes on Russian artillery do not translate immediately into territorial gains, it fits with shaping the battlefield in what has become a war of attrition in some respects. Ukrainian ground forces can better exploit weak points in the Russian lines when Moscow has degraded artillery capabilities to effectively respond and suppress them. With 155mm cluster munitions having arrived in Ukraine from U.S. stockpiles, this artillery disparity is set to only increase. In terms of counter-battery fire, these weapons can also allow for saving prized guided munitions to quickly kill enemy batteries with high certainty.
Time will tell how crucial Ukraine's growing artillery advantage in these regards is as the counteroffensive rolls on.
Popov reports that he raised questions about lack of counter-battery combat, artillery reconnaissance stations and supplys, as result, death of Russian soldiers in connection with this.
According to major general, issues raised by him at the highest level led to his lightning resignation in one day.
"Our enemy could not be broken through front of Armed Forces of Russia, we were hit from rear by senior commanders (Alluding to Gerasimov and Shoigu) Treacherously and vilely decapitating army at most difficult and tense moment," Popov summed up.
Janet Yellen says whites killing whites is good for the economy.
I was wondering who the poster boy for Western “Russian sourced” disinfo would be now that Prigo is out of the loop. So who’s supplying the ammo for this artillery? Your big guy claims we’ve already wasted all of our supplies. Don’t tell me fearless leader lied in order to justify the deployment of cluster bombs.
“With concrete walls up to 3.5 m (11 ft) thick, their designers considered the towers to be invulnerable to attack by the standard ordnance carried by RAF heavy bombers at the time of their construction.”
“The Soviets, in their assault on Berlin, found it difficult to inflict significant damage on the flak towers, even with some of the largest Soviet guns, such as the 203 mm M1931 howitzers.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flak_tower
The Russians know how to make and use concrete.
The Russians will fund and get the weapons they need.
It is only a matter of time.
“Former separatist commander Aleksandr Khodakovsky opined that Russian artillery can neither suppress the Ukrainian guns nor compete with their longer range.”
ROLFMAO! You guys are grasping for straws.
Artillery today is guided. The shells have GPS aboard and fins. They maneuver, specifically to prevent counter battery from having any value. Counter battery radar detection of a shell incoming would project the trajectory backwards to a place of origin that is specifically not the place of origin.
The artillery, of course, also carefully relocates every hour or so between recon satellite passes overhead.
This is modern warfare defined by satellites. Nothing in the past compares.
Also, the Russians are running out of ammunition last year.
Large grain of salt.
What “Game Changer” number is this one?
The Russians will fund and get the weapons they need.
—
Xi Jinping could fund them, if Russia is willing to cede the Far East and officially acknowledge Russia is a vessel state.
Else Russian is broke.
Lol, I wonder what the range on that thing was…
I read 47 or so KM.
What size was the ammunition?
The Schwerer Gustav also makes an appearance in the fictional Harry Turtledove World War Series. It performs respectably against an alien spaceship.
We always beat the aliens.
Even though they have figured out faster than light speed travel…
Only sadistic, sociopath would want to see the Ukrainians continue to lose more lives and more territory. But, those running this proxy are sadistic, sociopath.
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