165th Artillery Brigade’s 9K57 Uragan MLRS at Tryokhrechye training ground, 25 March 2020. Source: the Russian Ministry of Defense (https://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12283683@egNews)
The Russian military continues to hunt down M777 155 mm towed howitzers which were recently supplied to Ukraine by its Western allies.
On July 21, RT released a video showing a strike with Soviet-made BM-27 Uragan heavy multiple rocket launcher systems (MRLS) on a Ukrainian M777 howitzer on an unspecified frontline. The howitzer was destroyed along with a military truck that was towing it. The strike was coordinate with a drone, most likely an Orlan-10.
The Uragan MRLS can fire high explosive fragmentation, cluster or mine laying rockets. The effective firing range of the MRLS is 35 kilometers. However, it can reach a maximum firing range of around 90 kilometers.
The M777 howitzer has a maximum rate of fire of seven rounds per minute with a range of up to 40 kilometers when firing Excalibur precision-guided rounds.
In April, the US supplied 108, Canada four and Australia six M777 howitzers to Kiev forces to help thwart the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. Since then, hundreds of thousands of 155 mm rounds have been supplied to Kiev forces.
Ukrainian service members firing a M777 howitzer on an unspecified front in the Donbass region. Source: the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.
The Russian military has already destroyed many of Ukraine’s new-acquired M777 howitzers. At least one damaged howitzer of this type was also captured.
The West thought that it could turn the tide on the battlefield in Ukraine by arming Kiev forces with heavy weapons like M777 howitzers. Nevertheless, the Russian military still has the upper hand on the battlefield, especially when it comes to fire power.
