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Ukraine's armed forces released a video on Sunday (May 15) saying it said showed servicemen firing new U.S. M-777 howitzers at the front line in the east of the country. The video showed its soldiers firing an artillery gun. Reuters could not independently verify the video. The U.S. embassy in Kyiv said on Sunday that Washington has delivered all but one of the 90 artillery pieces they were due to send. The M-777 howitzer consignment is part of a huge outlay of weapons from Washington to help Ukraine fend off Russia's invasion, which began on Feb. 24. The M-777 is...

Canada will be handing over the M777 howitzers and ammunition to Ukraine, including the newest Excalibur extended-range GPS-guided shells. Militarnyi informs about this with reference to CBS. The media obtained confirmations from three sources saying that four of the 155-mm howitzers were sent to Ukraine. For reference, Canada has 37 of these howitzers. Ukraine will be receiving these weapons from the 1st Regiment of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery inventory. Anita Anand, Defence Minister noted that “a number of M-777 howitzers were shipped to Ukraine in cooperation with our American allies.” The shipment included an unspecified amount of 155-mm...

"More than half" of the howitzers the United States has designated to go to Ukraine have arrived as of Wednesday, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. The U.S.'s military assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded Feb. 24 includes 90 155 mm howitzers, large artillery guns that are operated by a team of about 10 people; 72 tactical vehicles to tow the howitzers; and 183,000 155 mm artillery rounds. “Without giving whole numbers, more than half of those howitzers are in Ukraine,” Kirby said during Wednesday’s briefing. He also said the first group of Ukrainian officers to be trained on the howitzers,...

WASHINGTON – The first U.S. 155mm howitzers from the latest $800 million military aid package for Ukraine have arrived in Europe as American troops there begin training Ukrainian forces on the artillery, a senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday. Some – but not all – of the 18 howitzers and 40,000 artillery rounds that the U.S. is sending Ukraine as part of the aid authorized April 13 by President Joe Biden have arrived in Europe as the U.S. delivered another four flights of military aid during the past 24 hours, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity....

In an amazing first, an artillery cannon took out a cruise missile. An M109 Paladin 155 mm howitzer made history recently by shooting down a fast-moving maneuvering cruise missile with a “hypervelocity projectile” able to travel at speeds up to Mach 5, according to an Air Force announcement. Historically, armored vehicles such as tanks, howitzers or infantry carriers have not operated with an ability to destroy fast-moving, long-range cruise missiles, yet the successful demonstration breaks new ground. The shoot-down, which took place at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, destroyed a “surrogate” Russian cruise missile target using the Air Force’s...

U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground conducts developmental testing of multiple facets of the Extended Range Cannon Artillery project, from artillery shells to the longer cannon tube and larger firing chamber the improved howitzer will need to accommodate them on November 18, 2018 (U.S. Army photo)The future of Army long-range precision officially has a name. The Army confirmed on Monday that it plan on designating the Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) program's brand new 155mm self-propelled howitzer as the M1299, Army Recognition reports. Developed in response to increasing concerns of near-peer adversaries like Russia and China, the ERCA gun nailed targets...

The future USS Michael Monsoor, set to become the U.S. Navy’s second stealthy Zumwalt-class destroyer, is underway for the first time for sea trials. The milestone comes as the service continues to reformulate the role of the ships, now saying they will be focused on attacking surface targets at sea, as well as on land, while the vessels' future seems as uncertain as ever in the face of continuing budget shortfalls and personnel problems. The second Zumwalt-class ship, also known as DDG-1001, sailed down the Kennebec River in Maine, on its way to the Altantic Ocean from Bath Iron Works...

When last we heard from the USS Zumwalt, the Navy had admitted that the brand-new stealth destroyer couldn't fire because its custom ammo was too expensive. Now, the service may have settled on a replacement to get the vessel and its brethren back in business. The U.S. Navy says its Zumwalt-class destroyers, state-of-the-art ships designed to bombard targets on land, could be equipped with the Excalibur precision-guided artillery round originally developed for land forces. The three Zumwalt-class land attack destroyers were designed around the Advanced Gun System (AGS). The 155-millimeter AGS gun, paired with the brand-new Long Range Land Attack...

Israel's state-owned Aerospace Industries has briefed Western and other militaries on its TopGun system, designed to convert 155mm artillery shells into precision-guided weapons. "Using our extensive experience in developing missile systems, we took this technological challenge upon ourselves," Uri Sinai, general manager of IAI's MLM division, said. Executives said TopGun was comprised of a fuze that corrected the trajectory of artillery shells. The kit contained global positioning and inertial navigation systems as well as four fins fitted to the fuze. "The accuracy of projectiles equipped with TopGun, which is mounted on the artillery round, is 20 meter CEP [Circular Error...

Apropos of our earlier post on precision guided indirect fire and the Army’s decision to cut its buy of Excalibur precision 155mm rounds, our own Christian Lowe checks in from his embed out near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border: I spoke with an artillery forward observer with Angel Company, 3–187, at FOB Sharana the other day who told me about the few times he’s employed the Excalibur precision 155 round. He said despite the infrequent use and the Army’s apparent lack of enthusiasm for the weapon, it sure makes a heck of an impression on the Taliban – so much so that...

Remaining without a single purchase of artillery guns since Bofors scandal broke out two decades ago, India has lined up series of procurements of such weapons to bridge the growing gap in the operational preparedness of its Army. Among the guns it plans to buy soon include towed, wheeled self-propelled, tracked self-propelled and ultra light howitzers. Defence Ministry sources on Friday said these acquisitions are at various stages of procurement and these guns would strengthen the artillery arm of the 1.13 million strong Army. While it has scheduled trials for two such weapons in the coming months, the Defence Ministry...

After five years of waiting, the United States has finally delivered to Pakistan 115 used M-109A5 self-propelled 155mm howitzers. The last 48 vehicles just arrived. Each of the M109A5 vehicles cost Pakistan about $487,000. This is less than a third of what a late model vehicle like the M109A5 would cost brand new. The vehicles had been put into storage by the United States after the Cold War ended (and many divisions, each with 56 M-109s, were disbanded). The stored vehicles were checked several times a year and received maintenance or repairs as needed. This is not the latest version...

Emanating from the world’s most combat proven and effective tube artillery system, the Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH2000 self-propelled howitzer), Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) developed an independent artillery module, fully meeting current military requirements. Accurate fire power is and remains an important military requirement. In current conflicts such as in Afghanistan, the PzH2000 could prove that this system can be perfectly deployed in asymmetric combat theatres. During Operation Medusa and the Battle of Chora, the Dutch PzH2000 effectively supported coalition forces and eliminated targets up to a distance of 46 kilometres. Indirect fire support is and remains an important element in current, as...

The Indian Army has postponed the winter trials for procuring 155 mm towed howitzers after St Kinetics expressed inability to bring its gun for field- testing due to an accident in Singapore. "The winter trials will now be held in October as one of the two contenders, St Kinetics, said its gun was damaged in an accident in Singapore and would be able to arrive in India only after March," Army officials said here. St Kinetics senior executive Brig Gen Patrick Choy said the accident occurred when the gun was being transported to India. "We have to cut some parts...

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Jan. 22 of a possible Foreign Military Sale to India of 145 M777 155mm Light-Weight Towed Howitzers with Laser Inertial Artillery Pointing Systems (LINAPS) and associated parts, equipment, training and logistical support for a complete package worth approximately $647 million. The Government of India has requested a possible sale of 145 M777 155mm Light-Weight Towed Howitzers with Laser Inertial Artillery Pointing Systems (LINAPS), warranty, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, publications and technical documentation, maintenance, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor representatives’ technical assistance, engineering and logistics support...

American and Canadian troops have begun using the Excalibur shell in Afghanistan earlier this year. A year ago, American troops began using Excalibur in Iraq. This was just timely, because Islamic warriors tend to use civilians as human shields, and that means you have to be precise when you go after the bad guys with artillery. A typical situation has enemy gunmen holding out in one building of a walled compound or village. In nearby buildings, there are women and children. While killing the enemy is good, killing the civilians can be a very bad thing. Smart bombs should be...

Thanks for nothing Bill Clinton!

MINNEAPOLIS, June 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK - News) announced today that it successfully tested its advanced, 155mm precision projectile -- Saber. Saber offers the U.S. Army a design capability and a low per unit cost for the Block 1B upgrade to the Excalibur program. Saber was fired from a 155mm cannon, using a Zone-5 charge, the most powerful charge configuration used by U.S. forces. Saber will give artillery batteries a precision-fire capability with significantly more stand-off range than current 155mm artillery. It is designed for compatibility with all existing and future 155mm cannons. "The relatively simple design...

Troops participating in Operation Shadyville searched 244 houses and netted several suspected insurgent supporters, two IEDs, and 50 AK-47 assault rifles. SAQLAWIYAH, Iraq, July 7, 2005 — Many young men who join the United States Marine Corps during their late teenage years may often fantasize about saving a comrade’s life while fighting a war overseas. Although this 20-year old Bessemer, Ala., native is no longer an adolescent, that dream became reality June 29 when he unearthed an insurgent-made improvised explosive device. “The IED we found was an HE (high explosive) 155mm artillery shell,” explained Cpl. Patrick Jernigan. “I was walking...

Charles Dulfer, head of Iraqi WMD survey group, confirms a number of additional Sarin gas weapons have been found in Iraq.