Free Republic

"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...