Free Republic

The Australian government has responded to appeals by the Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia for providing heavy artillery weapons to the Ukrainian Armed Forces as the war intensifies in Donbas. “We need some heavy weaponry – we need jets, we need tanks, we need productive vehicles, we need heavy artillery, we need offensive weapons. We need some real stuff,” said the Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, during an event hosted by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) on April 26. “We are there in the trenches for your people basically – because if we fall, the consequences we’re going...

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,...

BARROW, UK: BAE Systems workers today celebrated delivery of the 500th M777 howitzer to the US military. Weighing in at less than 4200kg, the revolutionary M777 is the world's first artillery weapon to make widespread use of titanium and aluminum alloys, resulting in a howitzer which is half the weight of conventional 155mm systems. BAE Systems Global Combat Systems' facility at Barrow-in- Furness is responsible for the prime contract management of the M777 programme, including direct customer liaison and acceptance of the weapon system in the US, control of the UK and US supply chain, engineering design authority and manufacturing...