Sweden will give Ukraine a revolutionary weapon: the expert explained what makes it special
Date: 2023-01-10 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: MILITARY ASSISTANCE
Military expert and editor-in-chief of Defense Express Oleg Katkov said that the Archer self-propelled guns, which Sweden is preparing to transfer to Ukraine, are one of the newest, revolutionary self-propelled guns in principle. These installations are fully automated.
As Katkov noted on the air of Apostrophe TV, when working with these self-propelled guns, the crew touches shells only when they are loaded into the automatic loader.
“The crew of the self-propelled guns, if I’m not mistaken, includes only three people - the commander, gunner and driver. The crew does not deal with ammunition, except for laying them in the automatic loader,” he added.
According to the expert, these self-propelled guns were created directly on the concept of counter-battery combat and combat on the principle of maneuver - fire - maneuver. These weapons can move into position, fire a series of three or four shots, and leave the place of firing even before the first shell hits the enemy positions. He added that this technique is brought in a matter of seconds and begins to fire at enemy positions almost immediately after it stops.
“That is, this is a spacecraft, even if we compare it with the American M-109 Paladin. But there are some nuances, like any new automated technology. They lie in the fact that certain things can come out during intensive operation that do not were laid down by designers and not found during moderate peacetime operation. That is, the self-propelled guns are definitely not designed to bombard the enemy with hundreds of shells, "the expert continued.
Katkov noted that the Swedish 155-mm Archer self-propelled artillery mounts do not have the ability to fire from the ground when the shells lie nearby, and they are simply fed along the conveyor to the self-propelled guns themselves in order to conduct constant fire.
"This self-propelled gun has its own ammunition - about two dozen shells - after working out which you need to go to reload. That is, these self-propelled guns work constantly on the move. As for the range, this is the best weapon in terms of firing, in particular at a distance of 50-60 km high-precision 155 mm projectiles". ", - summarized Katkov.
