Ukraine will receive a rather unexpected package of arms aid from Greece. This package goes through the Czech Republic as well as includes 70 units of 155-mm M114A1 howitzers.
This is not a new weapon for Ukraine, as in May of 2022, Portugal sent five M114A1 howitzers. Moreover, this is not the first delivery of these howitzers to Ukraine from Greece, but the second batch. The past one was also transmitted through the Czech Republic.
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However, it is worth noting that no photos of M114A1 howitzers in use by the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been found so far. The reasons for this are also quite clear. And this is the absolute obsolescence of these howitzers. Because this artillery was developed in 1939-1941 as well as production was discontinued in 1953. The last time the United States used it in combat in Vietnam.
This is a really old howitzer weighing 5,6 tons, with a barrel length of only 23 or 24,5 caliber, which allows it to fire at a range of up to 14,6 kilometrs. Greece received first such howitzers in 1951 as aid from the United States, so the total number of these howitzers reached 271 in the early 1970s. They had been serving in the Greek army until 2012.
Thus, M114A1 howitzes became obsolete in the 1960s, so in 2024 their combat value may not be mentioned at all. Eventually, the United States not only replaced the M114 with the M198, but also switched to the M777 howitzer. Its range of 14,6 kilometers even on the new barrel reduces the M114A1 howitzer`s chances in counter-battery combat to zero.
But this does not mean that nothing can be done with these howitzers at all. This howitzer had been the main gun in many European countries for quite long period of time. During the Cold War, in the second half of the 1980s, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway decided to jointly modernize the M114 by extending the barrel length to the standard 39 caliber at the time.
As a result, a total of 226 such howitzers had been modernized by replacing the barrel, but with maximum use of all other components of the artillery unit and carriage by 1990. As a result, the range increased to 18 kilometrs with a conventional M107 projectile, to 24,6 kilometrs with an ERFB projectile with improved aerodynamics, and to 32 kilometers with a base bleed system (ERFB-BB).
So, there are ways to transform the M114A1 howitzers into something more combat-capable. Although it's hard to call this a perfect solution. After all, we are talking about a complete barrel replacement as well as the corresponding technological cycles of modernization.
Earlier Defense Express reported that eight M777 had been dismantled to repair one due to lack of components from U.S. for Ukraine.
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