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| US has shipped over 1.5 million rounds of 155 mm munition to Ukraine. Here's why the ammo is so crucial. |
| 2023-04-26 |
| [FoxNews] Each round of the ammunition is about 2 feet long, weighs about 100 pounds. The 155 mm howitzer round is one of the most requested artillery munitions of the war in Ukraine. Already the U.S. has shipped more than 1.5 million rounds to Ukraine, but Kyiv is still seeking more. A look at why this particular munition is so commonly used, and why it's been so critical to the war in Ukraine. WHAT IS THE 155 MM? Essentially, the 155 mm round is a very big bullet, made up of four parts: the detonating fuse, projectile, propellant and primer. Each round is about 2 feet long, weighs about 100 pounds, and is 155 mm, or 6.1 inches, in diameter. They are used in howitzer systems, which are towed large guns that are identified by the range of the angle of fire that their barrels can be set to. The 155 mm shells can be configured in many ways: They can be packed with highly explosive material, use precision guided systems, pierce armor or produce high fragmentation. Past variants have included smoke rounds to obscure troop movement and illumination rounds to expose an enemy’s position. "The 155 mm round and the similar Soviet-era 152 mm rounds are so popular because they provide a good balance between range and warhead size," said Ryan Brobst, a research analyst at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. "If you have too small a shell, it won’t do enough damage and go as far. If you have a larger shell, you can’t necessarily fire it as far. This is the most common middle ground, and that’s why it’s so widely used." ITS USE IN UKRAINE Howitzer fires can strike targets up to 15 to 20 miles away, depending on what type of round and firing system is used, which makes them highly valued by ground forces to take out enemy targets from a protected distance. "Adversaries don’t have much warning of it coming. And it’s harder to hide from incoming rounds that are arcing in from the top, which makes it highly lethal," Brobst said. In Ukraine, 155 mm rounds are being fired at a rate of 6,000 to 8,000 a day, said Ukrainian parliamentary member Oleksandra Ustinova, who serves on Ukraine’s wartime oversight committee. They are eclipsed by the estimated 40,000 Russian variant howitzer rounds fired at them, she told reporters at a recent Washington event sponsored by the German Marshall Fund. The Pentagon previously had said how many rounds it was providing in each of the security assistance packages being sent about every two weeks to keep weapons and ammunition flowing into Ukraine. But it stopped specifying the number of 155 mm rounds shipped in each package in February, citing operational security. However, in its overall count of assistance provided to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022, the Pentagon says it has sent more than 160 155 mm howitzers, more than 1.5 million 155 mm rounds, more than 6,500 precision-guided 155 mm rounds and more than 14,000 155 mm Remote Anti-Armor Mine (RAAM) Systems — essentially a 155 mm shell packed with four mines that scatter on the ground and can take out a Russian tank if it drives over them. Other countries have also provided howitzers, but Kyiv has continually asked for more. As of last year Ukrainian officials were requesting as many as 1,000 howitzer systems to push Russian forces back. SPRING OFFENSIVE As Ukraine prepares for an intense counteroffensive this spring, it will likely need to fire 7,000 to 9,000 155 mm shells a day, said Yehor Cherniev, a member of Ukraine's parliament who spoke to reporters at the German Marshall Fund event. In recent months, the Biden administration has been using presidential drawdown authority to send ammunition directly from U.S. military stockpiles to Ukraine, instead of having to wait and buy rounds from defense firms, so they can get there in time for the anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive. The U.S. has also been training Ukrainian troops in Germany on how to better use the 155 mm rounds in combined arms tactics — coordinating strikes with targeting information provided by forward-based troops and other armored systems to maximize damage and reduce the number of rounds needed to take out a target. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #12 Sometimes, stuff just falls off a truck. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2023-04-26 20:52 |
| #11 I don't think the Ukies have the shipping/logistics to sell them distant elsewhere |
| Posted by: Frank G 2023-04-26 18:47 |
| #10 I wonder who the Ukrainians sold all that to. The South Koreans? There was a blurb the other day about the US "leasing" artillery shells from SKor. Makes for a nice closed loop system as long as the Ukies don't waste too many shooting at the Russians. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2023-04-26 14:11 |
| #9 1.5 million rounds to Ukraine. I wonder who the Ukrainians sold all that to. |
| Posted by: DooDahMan 2023-04-26 13:10 |
| #8 Guns are fun ways to reach out and touch The ones you don't like very much, But mysteries abound... "Bitch, an iPhone ain't round!" "And that's not gonna fit in my clutch." |
| Posted by: Shush Jones9850 2023-04-26 13:01 |
| #7 #3 Almost as if the Puppet Show was listening to the Actual Administration's principal leadership's wishes. Perhaps the next step will be to recall the entire Pacific Fleet back to San Francisco for a Fleet Gay Pride Week? |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2023-04-26 12:27 |
| #6 155mm shells are made in other places too. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-04-26 12:12 |
| #5 #4 155 mm, or 6.1 inches For you Tiktokrs, that is half an adolescent ferret. Essentially, the 155 mm round is a very big bullet, made up of four parts: the detonating fuse, projectile, propellant and primer. Kind of a clunky way to describe things. Posted by: swksvolFF 2023-04-26 11:55 swksvolFF, It'll do for the Munitions Challenged(TM). Mike |
| Posted by: MikeKozlowski 2023-04-26 12:12 |
| #4 155 mm, or 6.1 inches For you Tiktokrs, that is half an adolescent ferret. Essentially, the 155 mm round is a very big bullet, made up of four parts: the detonating fuse, projectile, propellant and primer. Kind of a clunky way to describe things. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2023-04-26 11:55 |
| #3 /\ No ammo or strategic oil reserve left for the defense of Taiwan....(as planned). |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2023-04-26 11:33 |
| #2 ...We're paying the price now for the destruction of the Cold War infrastructure thirty years ago. The intelligent - I know, I know - option would have been to cold-storage the plants. But that would have cost money, and we had so many other things we needed to spend it on (sarcOFF). It should be mentioned that there are a couple other plants that are going to be converted to 155mm production, but it will be a very optimistic 24 months before they can stand up, and I'd bet the house payment that the NIMBYs will be crawling out of the woodwork momentarily. And if they don't. I'm sure there's some PLA accountant in Beijing figuring out just how much Yuan they need to rustle some up. Mike |
| Posted by: MikeKozlowski 2023-04-26 11:30 |
| #1 The US, as I recall, currently has a single source for 155mm. IIRC it's Kilkenny Arsenal in Scranton, where evey single building is on the National Historic Buildings list, and as such cannot be modified. The Steel bodies are machined in Scraton, and then shipped by rail to a site in Iowa for explosives and sealing. Single source. One not so big plant. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2023-04-26 09:50 |