The Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had destroyed 15 US M777 howitzers that had just been delivered to Ukraine.
According to Russian MOD Russian armed forces destroyed more than a dozen m777 Howitzers while being offloaded near some frontal position.
Russian Aerospace Forces staged a surprise raid on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and destroyed at least 16 M777 artillery pieces transferred to the Ukrainian military from the United States a few days ago. According to a number of data, this is about half of the number of guns currently in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, since part of such weapons was destroyed, and about 30 more guns are under repair, which, among other things, was reported by the American side.
It is noted that in total 12 firing positions were hit, among which there are positions of multiple launch rocket systems, mortar units and four platoons of 155-mm M777 howitzers.
https://twitter.com/AZmilitary1/status/1539210375752818688
High-precision air-launched missiles hit 12 firing positions of artillery and mortar units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including four platoons of Grad multiple launch rocket systems in the areas of Avdiivka, Keramik, Zhelanny and four platoons of 155-mm M777 howitzers,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. .
Considering that an artillery platoon includes 3-4 howitzers, a total of 12-16 M777 howitzers should be destroyed by Russian air force strikes. This means that the Armed Forces of Ukraine should currently be armed with 10-20 American artillery installations out of 108 previously transferred to the United States.
This is the latest batch of Ukrainian M777 artillery pieces destroyed by Russia. Video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on the same day shows Ukrainian soldiers cutting branches to disguise the M777 howitzer. In a video released by the Russian side, Ukrainian soldiers are unloading ammunition, spare parts, and other equipment from a truck.
The Russian side gave reconnaissance UAVs to find out the location of Ukraine’s M777 artillery batch and accurately locate the artillery force to fire. Russian forces then shelled continuously on the battlefield, destroying many M777 complexes, artillery trailers and ammunition gathered nearby, causing many large fires.
Ukraine has not commented on the information given by the Russian side neither any western media. Russia recently repeatedly announced that it destroyed many Ukrainian M777 artillery pieces.
Although the number given by Russia is very large, an estimated total of 40-50 Ukrainian M777 cannons have been destroyed, but analysts say the number is more or less exaggerated.
Earlier, Russia released a clip announcing that they used suicide drones to destroy the M777 howitzer, but the image given by Russia showed that they did not hit the Ukrainian howitzer.
The US and its allies said they had donated more than 100 M777 howitzers to Ukraine, the Ukrainian side said 60 of these guns had been deployed on the battlefield, while the rest were waiting for the crew to be trained.
In the initial phase, the Ukrainian army was very successful when using Western-aided Javelin missiles to destroy Russian tanks in direct clashes.
Likewise, with Western artillery being brought into Ukraine, especially the US-made M777 howitzer, Ukraine’s military can create fierce resistance to Russia. The arrival of the M777 artillery has raised hopes that Ukrainian artillery can prevail on at least some of the front lines – a key step in gaining an advantage in the conflict that is taking place mainly on terrain. flat, open area of Eastern Ukraine.
As the West becomes bolder in aid shipments to Ukraine, Kyiv will receive a total of more than 90 M777 howitzers from the US, 6 from Australia, and 4 from Canada.
The M777 is America’s longest direct-fired artillery, with a range of up to 30-40 km. This range is 5 km longer than the Msta-S self-propelled howitzer, the most common artillery system Russia has deployed in Ukraine. The M777 can shoot up to 16 km farther than the Msta-S self-propelled howitzer if using an increased range warhead.
The M777 howitzer also uses a high-precision electronic control system. Dubbed Digital Towing Cannon, this system uses GPS for positioning and can receive data from reconnaissance drones, helping to hit the target with less fire.
With a weight of about 3.4 tons, which is relatively light among towed artillery, the M777 can be transported very easily on the battlefield.