Why Ukraine's Growing Counterbattery Advantage Is Hurting Russian Forces

Ukraine's artillery advantage over Russia is growing as sophisticated NATO counterbattery radars, precision GPS-guided artillery rounds and more mobile and accurate guns and rockets make it difficult either to suppress Ukrainian artillery or to match their range. 

This advantage will grow further with the use of cluster munitions. JL 

Stetson Payne reports in The Drive:

To the rear of the brutal fighting at the frontlines, Ukraine (is) making the best of counter-battery fire to suppress and destroy Russian artillery units. Russian accounts corroborate a growing Ukrainian artillery advantage. Russian artillery can neither suppress Ukrainian guns nor compete with their longer range. Precision long-range fires have also been prioritized against artillery systems. The GPS-guided Excalibur artillery round, of which thousands have been donated to Ukraine, are prized for quickly taking out pinpointed enemy batteries with high certainty. With 155mm cluster munitions having arrived in Ukraine from U.S. stockpiles, this artillery disparity is set to only increase

To the rear of the brutal fighting at the frontlines, Ukraine appears to be making the very best of counter-battery fire to suppress and destroy Russian artillery units.

Though Ukrainian troops continue fighting for breakthroughs in Russian defensive lines, artillery gunners are playing the long game for future artillery supremacy. Counter-battery fire, and especially radars that facilitate it with high accuracy, are playing a big part in this. It has been reported that many Russian artillery units lack counter-battery radar systems to pinpoint incoming fire, with losses of these prized systems having taken their toll in nearly year and half of fighting. In addition, due to their high-tech nature, Russia is hard-pressed to replace them with new units.

 

Russian accounts of the fighting seem to corroborate a growing Ukrainian artillery advantage in some regard. Former separatist commander Aleksandr Khodakovsky opined that Russian artillery can neither suppress the Ukrainian guns nor compete with their longer range.

 

Ivan Popov, a top Russian general, was fired recently after laying into Defense Minister Shoigu about how poorly the war is being ran from headquarters, highlighted the lack of Russian counter-battery fire capabilities, in particular. We will talk more about the general's dismissal in a moment. Some of Ukraine's counter-battery fire has relied upon western-supplied long-range precision artillery, most notably the GMLRS. The GPS-guided Excalibur artillery round, of which thousands have been donated to Ukraine, are also prized weapons for quickly taking out pinpointed enemy batteries with high certainty. The U.S. has also provided counter-battery radars beginning in 2015. 

 

Precision long-range fires have also been prioritized against artillery systems beyond counter-battery engagements. Spotting by lower-end drones combined with guided artillery has resulted in numerous examples of 'one shot, one kill' destruction of Russian artillery systems. The emphasis on counter-battery fire could well be part of a shift in tactics as the counteroffensive continues. The New York Times reported Saturday that Ukraine changed tactics after the first two weeks of combat saw “as much of 20 percent of the weaponry it sent to the battlefield was damaged or destroyed.”

Attrition rates slowed as commanders adapted in the ensuing weeks, but the story noted losses have decreased because the counteroffensive itself has not progressed rapidly.

Intense video shows what these offensive operations look like, as Ukrainian infantry hug the ground and open fire while a BTR wheeled armored personnel carrier opens up with its autocannon over their heads.

While accurate strikes on Russian artillery do not translate immediately into territorial gains, it fits with shaping the battlefield in what has become a war of attrition in some respects. Ukrainian ground forces can better exploit weak points in the Russian lines when Moscow has degraded artillery capabilities to effectively respond and suppress them. With 155mm cluster munitions having arrived in Ukraine from U.S. stockpiles, this artillery disparity is set to only increase. In terms of counter-battery fire, these weapons can also allow for saving prized guided munitions to quickly kill enemy batteries with high certainty.

Time will tell how crucial Ukraine's growing artillery advantage in these regards is as the counteroffensive rolls on.