The interest in howitzers is increasing day by day due to their performance in the Ukrainian War. Howitzers, or in other words howitzer cannons, can fire unguided or guided artillery shells and mortar shells at long distances. While “self-propelled howitzers” can move on their own without the need for another vehicle, “towed howitzers”, as the name suggests, need to be towed by another vehicle.
Howitzers, which form the cornerstone of modern artillery, were thought to be obsolete for some time. However, howitzers played a more prominent role in the war in Ukraine than in other recent conflicts such as Afghanistan or Iraq.
In Ukraine, both the Russian army and the Ukrainian army are mutually trying to wear out each other with artillery fire. Thereupon, British weapons manufacturer BAE Systems decided to re-produce the M777 howitzer used in Ukraine. BAE Systems has stated that several countries are interested in purchasing the now discontinued M777s. It was stated that this interest in howitzers has increased after the successes of the Ukrainian forces against the Russian troops in recent months.
The performance of the M777 has been greatly improved with precision guided missiles that can hit the target with the GPS system instead of traditional unguided shells. It is known that 170 M777 units were supplied by the Ukrainian army from the USA, Australia and Canada. The US military is estimated to have at least 1,000 M777s.
Easy to use for the troops, the most important feature that distinguishes the M777 from many other similar artillery weapons in the West is that it is cheap and reliable. The disadvantages of the M777 are that it is a towed howitzer and has a lower rate of fire compared to similar artillery systems.
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Commenting on Haber Global, Retired Air Pilot Lieutenant General Dr. Erdoğan Karakuş says that some time ago it was thought that howitzer artillery had become dysfunctional. The reason for this is that howitzers can be easily shot down by the air force.
Stating that Russia’s biggest weakness at the moment is its air force, Karakuş said, “They cannot hit targets such as howitzer systems because they do not have precision-guided missiles capable of firing from far enough away. The planes have to descend to shoot, then they are hit with US-made shoulder-fired Stinger missiles.” says. While continuing his words, “We are in a world where the air force gains importance,” he says that the world war strategy changes according to air power.
Saying that they had to fight artillery wars for this reason, Karakuş states that the Ukrainian Army has shown great success due to the longer range of the US-made howitzers.
In addition, the Ukrainian Army also launches guided rockets with ‘multi-barrel rocket systems’ (MRNA). Saying that the Ukrainian Army uses Starlink satellites of the SpaceX company, owned by Elon Musk, for both guided howitzer bullets and rockets, Karakuş says, “In this way, howitzers that provide higher accuracy have gained value.”
Dr. Erdoğan Karakuş states that the T-155 Storm howitzers owned by Turkey are also very useful and that these howitzers can shoot with satellite connection. Saying that these self-propelled howitzers do not need another vehicle to tow them, Karakuş adds that the range of these howitzers is 40 kilometers.
‘Howitzers are EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR THE BATTLEFIELD’
Security Specialist Abdullah Ağar, on the other hand, says that howitzers have become much stronger than before. Stating that the M777s use titanium alloy and new generation guided Excalibur bullets, Ağar says, “The Russians cannot respond with artillery in Ukraine. That’s why they are trying to close this gap with the nuclear threat.” Stating that not only the M777, but also the French Caesar howitzer and the USA’s Himars multi-barrel rocket systems have shown success in Ukraine, Ağar continues:
“Artillery weapons are extremely important on the battlefields. They have never lost their importance. They are shooting new generation ammunition. Excalibur ammunition is able to target 45 kilometers, but the Russian army’s D-series ammunition has a range of 30 kilometers. For example, while the stone thrown by one coincides with the head of the other, The stone thrown by the other cannot even hit the feet of the target.”