A year ago, on the eve of the New Year, in an interview with The Economist, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, clearly outlined the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for the year 2023: "I need 300 tanks, 600-700 IFVs, 500 Howitzers."
Tanks, IFVs, APVs: What Weaponry Did Ukraine Receive From Allies in 2023? (Part 1)
Read more: Tanks, IFVs, APVs: What Weaponry Did Ukraine Receive From Allies in 2023? (Part 1)
Means of Anti-Aircraft Defense: What Weaponry Did Ukraine Receive From Allies in 2023? (Part 3)
Therefore, how many artillery systems, missiles, and artillery shells did allies promise to Ukraine for 2023, and how much were they provided in total?
It is worth mentioning that only the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine can provide the exact quantity of the received weapons. However, many details have been openly disclosed to the public by international partners, the Espreso publication reported.
Artillery began to be supplied to Ukraine in 2022 and continued into early 2023. However, deliveries practically stopped by the summer. This includes American M777 and L119, British L119, French Caesar, German PzH 2000, Slovak Zusana 2, Polish Krab self-propelled howitzers, and many others. In 2023, the powerful Swedish 155mm Archer self-propelled artillery system joined this coalition.
It features a fully automated loading system, making it one of the best self-propelled artillery units in the world. It was reported that at least eight of these vehicles were delivered in the fall, and they are part of the armament of the 45th Separate Artillery Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In 2023, what became significant was Ukraine establishing the production of its Bohdana wheeled self-propelled howitzer, which fires 155mm NATO-standard artillery shells. It was reported that around 30 of these self-propelled howitzers, actively deployed on the front lines, had been assembled for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Certainly, it's also important not to forget about salvo fire systems: American HIMARS (in total, almost 40 units were delivered in almost two years) and MRLS M270, German MARS II, and British Wolfram for Brimstone missiles.
Ukraine has also been receiving mortars from around the world, primarily from the USA (250-300 units) and Poland (100 units). Additionally, since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukrainian industry has already manufactured hundreds of mortars.
A breakthrough for Ukraine was that in 2023, in addition to the already available Harpoon long-range missiles, we began to receive Franco-British Storm Shadow/SCALP air-launched cruise missiles of the "air-to-ground" class during the spring and summer.
There is no precise information on their quantity, but it is likely to be over fifty. Also, in the fall, Ukraine received the ATACMS operational-tactical missiles that can target objectives at a range of 160 km. Unfortunately, the Americans have so far imposed a ban on missiles that can target objectives at a range of 300 km.
According to available information, Ukraine has received only 20 ATACMS. In any case, the acquired Storm Shadow/SCALP and ATACMS have provided the Ukrainian Armed Forces with "long arms," enabling them to strike at significant distances (strikes on occupiers' airfields and ports have become more frequent.)
In general, there was no significant increase in the quantity of artillery and self-propelled artillery system in 2023. However, there was a breakthrough in the decision on long-range missiles, which changed the situation in the Black Sea.
Ammunition: received over 2.6 million 155mm artillery shells, need at least the same for the next year
For the war, ammunition is needed, especially crucial are the 155-millimeter artillery shells, which the Ukrainian artillery adopted when it began using NATO weapons.
On March 20, the defense and foreign affairs ministers of the European Union approved a plan to purchase ammunition, which envisaged supplying Ukraine with a million shells by the end of 2023. However, due to several factors, less than a third was delivered, approximately 300,000. Given that North Korea has delivered about 350,000 artillery shells to russia this year.
Surprisingly, South Korea turned out to be the largest supplier of artillery ammunition to Ukraine since the beginning of the year, surpassing all European countries combined, as reported by The Washington Post. This includes 330,000 artillery shells.
In addition, the United Kingdom and Germany provided tens of thousands of artillery shells. However, the largest shipment of artillery shells came, of course, from the United States – over 2 million 155mm shells in addition to a million munitions of other calibers.
Ukraine's annual need for artillery ammunition should be 200,000 shells per month to gain local firepower superiority over the russian federation. So, the Armed Forces of Ukraine need approximately 2.4 million ammunition per year. However, such a quantity could deplete all European and American stocks altogether by the end of 2024.
Since February 2022, Ukrainian Armor has already delivered over a thousand mortars.
Therefore, it became important for Ukraine to further increase the production of its own munitions in collaboration with partners in 2024, which it had begun manufacturing regularly in 2022. In particular, by the end of 2023, Ukraine was supposed to have launched the production of 155mm artillery shells.
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