The Ukrainian army forsaking artillery systems of Soviet 122mm and 152mm calibers is just a matter of time and fact. And with Ukraine’s partners supplying hundreds of diverse weapon systems such as M777, M109, CAESAR, Krab, PzH 2000, Zuzana 2, FH70 and others in 155mm and 109mm calibers – this process is only beginning.
Because here we talk about replacement of more than 1,200 Soviet-caliber systems: around 750 122mm guns of and roughly 450 152mm weapons, according to the data as of year 2021. Considering that, to reach these stats with Western barrels is quite the task.
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To make the scale clear: Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy altogether have about 600 units of 155mm and almost 150 units of 105mm artillery systems (all the statistics from the Military Balance).
The path towards the full transition and related problems were described by the Polish Defence24 website. Below we provided the key points and conclusions of our colleagues’ article with Defense Express commentary.
The first task is to replace the 122mm systems, such as the D-30 and 2S1 "Gvozdika". The main reason is that Europe is running out of ammunition for these faster than for any other Soviet-caliber weapon. The corresponding replacement can be the 105mm artillery systems, for instance the M119 has greater mobility than the D-30.
Also, there is an interesting and promising mobile version of the 105mm artillery, the Hawkeye Mobile Weapon System (105MWS), which is basically a 105mm M20 gun mounted on a HMMWV chassis. And though the system only entered testing in 2021, it is interesting in the way it provides an easy to maintain chassis with considerable firepower.
The 2S1 "Gvozdika" can be replaced with some artillery system of the 155mm caliber, focusing on the wheeled variants to increase the mobility of the howitzer. However, Defense Express suggests concentrating the 105mm arsenal inside the air assault and marine units makes more sense while the ground forces should focus on using 155mm guns with barrels 39 cal and 52 cal in length.
Yet the main problems start when it comes to replacing the 152mm guns with 155mm equivalents. Because, as we already noted, the number of 155mm systems in service with the world's armies is not that big overall. Anyway, even if we imagine a fantastic scenario when the U.S. decides to hand over to Ukraine all the M109A6 self-propelled howitzers it has in stock, the Armed Forces of Ukraine still will receive about 500 systems. And here we talk about a system with a barrel 39 cal long.
Therefore, there is no way other than to create a whole "zoo" of all available artillery systems provided by the allies and procured by Ukraine. This diversity already includes the Polish Krab, German RCH 155, Slovak Zuzana 2. Even after Ukraine’s win over russia, the worldwide deficit of weapons will not allow to use one particular sample of artillery.
However, there are another two noteworthy options to consider: the production of own 155mm artillery, such as the self-propelled "Bohdana" or replacement of the artillery unit on the Msta-S SPGs – both available ones and those captured from the russians. You see, russia has an export variant of this artillery system of the 155mm ammo caliber with a 52 cal barrel. That means, if Ukraine sets the task right and completes it, the country can modernize its artillery park the same way.
At the same time, some of the systems, particularly 203mm 2S7 "Pion", must be dismissed at some point of time. Sooner or later – the issues of ammunition and maintenance will decide.
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