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During a 14-week ‘train the trainer’ course taught at a frozen military base in Boden, Swedish Lapland, the Swedish School of Artillery instructed British gunners from Larkhill, Wiltshire, on how to fire the Swedish-made Archer howitzer systems. Defence Equipment and Support – the UK Ministry of Defence’s procurement arm – acquired 14 Archer systems from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration for the Royal Artillery, whose 32 AS90 Braveheart howitzers were donated to Ukraine prior to the new acquisition. In October 2023, the first of Britain’s Archer systems had arrived in the UK just six months after the Government signed the...

The service is returning to its roots as an island-hopping tornado to face off against Russia and China. The U.S. Marine Corps is in the process of reinventing itself to deal with future threats . . . and future budgets. The service is concentrating on island and littoral missions, and going lighter and more mobile as a result. The plan, Force Design 2030, aims to make the Corps an indispensable tool in America’s toolbox. The U.S. Marine Corps is undergoing its biggest reorganization in decades, slimming down and chopping weapon systems, such as tanks and howitzers, in an effort to...

A third of the German Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzers used by the Ukrainian army are already in need of maintenance and are to be sent for repair in Slovakia, German newspaper Spiegel reports, citing its own sources. According to the publication, from the very beginning, the Ukrainian military tried to fire special ammunition at too great a distance.

U.S. cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has revised and retracted statements it used to buttress claims of Russian hacking during last year's American presidential election campaign. The shift followed a VOA report that the company misrepresented data published by an influential British think tank. (snip) VOA reported Tuesday that the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), which publishes an annual reference estimating the strength of world armed forces, disavowed the CrowdStrike report and said it had never been contacted by the company. Ukraine's Ministry of Defense also has stated that the combat losses and hacking never happened. (snip) After CrowdStrike released its...

Authored by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog, Last week, I published two posts on cyber security firm CrowdStrike after becoming aware of inaccuracies in one of its key reports used to bolster the claim that operatives of the Russian government had hacked into the DNC. This is extremely important since the DNC hired CrowdStrike to look into its hack, and at the same time denied FBI access to its servers. Before reading any further, you should read last week’s articles if you missed them the first time. Credibility of Cyber Firm that Claimed Russia Hacked the DNC Comes Under Serious Question What...

Ambassador David Hale said the equipment includes more than 70 M198 howitzers and over 26 million rounds of ammunition and artillery "of all shapes and sizes, including heavy artillery." Islamic extremists have launched several attacks on Lebanese troops over the past months in areas near the Syrian border, killing and wounding scores of troops. The most serious attack occurred in August, when members of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and the Islamic State group captured two dozen Lebanese soldiers. They have killed four of them and still hold the rest. Lebanese and American officials attended a handover ceremony Sunday at Beirut's...

Sunni radicals with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) may have captured as many as 52 U.S.-made M198 howitzers in their march across Iraq in June. “They shouldn’t have too much trouble shelling large area targets like a city if they have sufficient ammo,” Jeremy Binnie of the British military consultancy HIS Janes toldMcClatchy news service Monday.

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...

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...

Ceremonial artillery is a precise endeavor I think that at every arrival and departure points of Ronald Reagan's remains during his funeral week there was a 21-gun salute fired by either Army or Marine gunners. When I was a battery commander in 3d Armored Division in Germany, my battery was the division's salute battery. We did a number of salutes for V Corps Headquarters, so we might have been the salute battery for the whole corps, too. My battalion was equipped with M109A3, self-propelled, 155mm howitzers. Because salutes fire blank rounds (duh!) separate loading ammunition - the propellant and the...

April 05, 2004 Stryker Howitzer Prototype General Dynamics Land Systems has, as a private venture, developed a 105mm self-propelled howitzer for the Stryker vehicle platform. General Dynamics is the current manufacturer of the Stryker vehicles. The company will be test-firing them in Florida this month. See below for photos.

Even at ski resorts, wartime brings hardship. On the slopes of Mammoth Mountain and Alpine Meadows, high along California's Sierra Nevada range, resort operators have grown accustomed to using five leased Army howitzers to blast loose dangerous drifts of snow packed high on mountainsides. "They work really well for avalanche control work," said Pam Murphy, senior vice president for Mammoth Mountain ski resort. But the military wants the big guns back. It needs them for troops fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. Army officials came knocking for the artillery cannons a few days ago, saying they had no choice but to...

An Alpine Meadows ski resort vehicle transports a 119-A howitzer through the resort's ski runs above Tahoe City, Calif., near Lake Tahoe. (Photo: AP) “It was designed to kill people, but it's a very valuable safety tool for us.” Rachael WoodsLake Tahoe's Alpine Meadows The U.S. military is demanding the return of five howitzers that two Sierra Nevada ski resorts use to prevent avalanches, saying it needs the guns for the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Alpine Meadows and Mammoth Mountain received the artillery pieces on loan from the Army and began using them last year to fire rounds into...

Associated PressAn Alpine Meadows ski resort vehicle transports a 119-A howitzer through the resort's ski runs above Tahoe City, Calif., near Lake Tahoe last week. RENO, Nev. -- The U.S. military is demanding the return of five howitzers that two Sierra Nevada ski resorts use to prevent avalanches, saying it needs the guns for the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Alpine Meadows and Mammoth Mountain received the artillery pieces on loan from the Army and began using them last year to fire rounds into mountainsides and knock snow loose. But the ski resorts received word earlier this month that...

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- Egypt has launched a project to refurbish its arsenal of U.S.-origin howitzers. The United States has approved an Egyptian project to refurbish its entire arsenal of M109A2/A3 self-propelled howitzers to ensure continued operations. The Defense Department has awarded United Defense a $43.7 million contract to improve 201 155 mm guns in a project that will be conducted in the United States A Pentagon statement said the contract is expected to be completed by March 2006. Egypt will finance the contract from U.S. military aid, which amounts to $1.3 billion a year. Egypt obtained the M109A2 in 1984...