M777 155mm towed howitzer
The 155mm M777 towed howitzer came as part of military aid to Ukraine from Western countries to fight the full-scale Russian invasion that began in February 2022. To defeat the enemy, Ukrainian gunners used the American 155-mm ?777 towed howitzers, so called “three axes”. The 155 mm howitzer can fire five rounds per minute, and with the use of Excalibur precision artillery ammunition, it can hit a target at a distance of up to 40 kilometers.
American 155-mm M777 howitzers, supplied to Ukraine as part of US military aid, have a major impact on the battlefield. This was stated May 16, 2022 during a briefing by a senior Pentagon official. "You can already see that the Ukrainians are ready to launch a counteroffensive in Donbas. They are returning some of the cities that the Russians captured earlier. And Kharkiv is a great example that they are doing more than just defending the city. Now they are displacing the Russians to the east and north, and we believe that this is influenced by howitzers, especially in Kharkiv," said a US Department of Defense official.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had a conversation 17 May 2022 with the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov. Reznikov told Austin that 74 of the 90 M777 howitzers provided to Ukraine by the United States are currently in combat, providing long-range fire from closed positions. They are used not only in the Kharkiv region, but also in other places of the Donbas.
The United States provided Ukraine with 126 M777 howitzers, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said. "In April, the United States delivered our first batch of M777 howitzers—introducing NATO-standard artillery pieces to Ukraine for the first time. Today, the United States has delivered 126 of those howitzers. And along with countries around the world, we've increased the number of howitzer systems for Ukraine's defenders by more than 18-fold," he said in his opening remarks at the Fifth Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on 08 September 2022.
The 155 mm M777 howitzer, with a barrel length of 39 calibers, has manual loading and a rate of fire of up to five rounds per minute. Depending on the type of projectile used, the howitzer has a range of between 24 and 30 kilometers.
The technical characteristics of the M777 howitzer allow to reach the enemy at long distances (the exact range depends on the type of projectile), and quickly work on various targets, which may be its main advantage. The M777 has a digital fire control system and is characterized by high accuracy and great destructive power. Using high-precision projectiles with a maximum range of up to 40 km, one battery of M777 howitzers can cover an area of ??up to 1,250 square kms.
To hit particularly important targets, the Ukrainian military uses M982 Excalibur ammunition, which is transferred to Ukraine as military aid. This is a 155mm guided rocket-assisted projectile. It was developed by Raytheon Missile Systems and BAE Systems Bofors. Excalibur is guided by GPS and can hit targets at a distance of up to 60 km, and in December 2020, during tests, the US Army successfully hit a target at a distance of 70 km. Weight – 44 kg, weight of the warhead – 22 kg.
Yhe 155-mm howitzers work along almost the entire front line, destroying concentrations of personnel, weapons, and military equipment of the Russian invaders. For example, the soldiers of the separate artillery Grand Duke Vytautas brigade destroyed Russia’s 2S7 Pion self-propelled gun with the help of the M777 howitzer.
In one of the areas of military operations in the Kherson region, the battery of the 155th artillery division of the M777 howitzers effectively fired at enemy targets. As a result, an artillery battery, a cluster of weapons, and military equipment of the Russian forces were destroyed.
The M777 is a good example of a weapon with which one would like to continue carrying out fire missions without reverting to the earlier Soviet-era weapons, according to the gunners. “Three axes” are nearly undetected because of their vastly increased shooting range.
In comparison with Soviet howitzers (including the self-propelled gun Giatsint ), the M777 hits more accurately and at a greater distance. Modern weapons are also more convenient to use: the team can operate them more easily, changing directions and working faster on different targets.
During the liberation of the Kherson region in late 2022, fighters of the Separate Artillery Brigade named after the General-Standard-Bearer Oleksiy Almazov, destroyed the equipment and personnel of the Russian invasion forces. Precise and menacing, maneuverable and long-range, as well as powerful, and what is most important — lightweight and accurate: this is the assessment given to the American howitzer by the Ukrainian marine gunners.
“M777 is easy to operate. We have new howitzers, they work much better: they are easier to handle, technically more well thought out units and engines. And what is no less important — weight is a serious characteristic, the speed of leaving the firing position and the execution of firing tasks depends on it, and, to a certain extent, the accuracy of firing,” said the gun commander Oleh.
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