Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Sept 20 (AFP\/APP): Lurking in a gulley in a Ukrainian forest grove, the ageing Soviet-era Akatsiya 2S3 howitzer may be advanced in years but is not being retired just yet.<\/p>\n
Ukraine’s army prefers more efficient Western weapons, but it was forced to deploy whatever it had when the war started, mostly older stock.<\/p>\n
Built in 1986 and nicknamed “Lastochka” (“The Swallow”) by its crew, a set of tools on the howitzer’s roof indicates that repairs are often required.<\/p>\n
“To make it go from second to third gear, you have to give it a hammer blow or slap it,” Sergiy, 26, said with a smile, clapping loudly for effect.<\/p>\n
In contrast, more modern Western artillery locks its targets by computer, and then shoots, gaining precious time to avoid a retaliation strike.
\n“We will be remembered as the last to have used these systems,” said an officer nicknamed “Baniet” (“Bayonet”).<\/p>\n
In Ukraine, the army “makes do with what it has”, even if it prefers Western equipment “with more computers”, he said.
\n“Every Lada owner would be delighted to have a Mercedes,” he added, referring jokingly to the Akatsiya 2S3 and comparing it to the ubiquitous Soviet-era passenger car.<\/p>\n
These “Lada” also cede 10 kilometres (six miles) or more of range to more sophisticated Western equipment, and fall even further short in terms of precision.<\/p>\n
Their strikes land “within a radius of 200 to 300 metres” from the target, compared to five metres (16 feet) for a modern guided shell, according to Pierre Grasser, a Paris-based expert on Russian defence.<\/p>\n
– ‘End of an era’ –<\/p>\n
Whatever its defects, the Ukrainian army will be forced to abandon the Akatsiya 2S3 for lack of ammunition, according to Grasser.<\/p>\n
Like other USSR-era artillery bequeathed to Ukraine upon its independence in 1991, it operates mainly with 152 mm shells, mainly produced in Russia.<\/p>\n
Over the past few months, Ukraine’s allies, led by the United States, have delivered more than 220 howitzers of a different calibre (155 mm), which has allowed Kyiv to “move to a new military standard”, said Grasser.<\/p>\n
With such new precision-guided long-range systems Kyiv has been able to hit targets far behind the Russian positions including ammunition depots and supply lines.<\/p>\n
“It’s a huge surprise, because it’s the first time that Russia has been below in terms of artillery fighting since the First World War,” said Grasser.<\/p>\n
Ukraine now has “the ability to cover a wider and much more precise field with its artillery” than Russia whose primary tactic has been massive shelling, Pierre Razoux, a military historian, told AFP.<\/p>\n
In parallel the “end of an era” beckons for “The Swallow” as stocks of 152 mm shells run out, according to Kyiv-based military analyst Sergiy Zgourets.<\/p>\n
Back in the combat zone, “Baniet”, a former Red Army veteran who has little nostalgia for his time in the USSR-era military, said “it doesn’t matter which weapon will destroy our enemy”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Sept 20 (AFP\/APP): Lurking in a gulley in a Ukrainian forest grove, the ageing Soviet-era Akatsiya 2S3 howitzer may be advanced in years but is not being retired just yet. Ukraine’s army prefers more efficient Western weapons, but it was forced to deploy […]<\/p>\n
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