Description

Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 marked the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the largest conventional war in Europe since 1945. What started off as a hybrid conflict of plausible deniability, soon spread to Donbas, and then, on 24 February 2022, escalated into an all-out invasion of Ukraine by Russia. What has not changed since 2014 is the dominant role that artillery has played on the battlefield for the armed services of both sides.

In February 2022 the gun artillery systems designed in the USSR formed the backbone of the artillery forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ZSU). Many of them had already been worn out during the eight years of the war in Donbas, and stockpiles of ammunition were rapidly exhausted in order to blunt the invasion of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (VSRF). From mid-2022, Ukraine’s allies in the West began supplementing and, in some cases, replacing Soviet-designed artillery systems with towed and self-propelled guns. Although relatively small in number even three years later, these systems have not only proved qualitatively superior to Soviet-legacy systems but have also played a critical role in the defence of Ukraine, enabling the ZSU to shift away from Soviet-style massed fires towards an emphasis on precision, and deploying artillery as a force multiplier.

War in Ukraine, Volume 10: Ukrainian- & Western-Designed Artillery Systems, 2022–2024 is based on extensive research, including primary sources and interviews with soldiers who have used these weapons systems in anger in Ukraine. This volume is richly illustrated with original photographs and the @War series’ specially commissioned colour artworks.