Video covering recent Ukraine war news. Of particular note for my artillery rant is the artillery crew saying they were firing 50 shells per day per cannon in support of friendly Ukrainian counter attacking troops… that is a LOT of firepower!

(10:25 timestamp)

I love that they got footage with the reporter there with the artillery firing in a downpour, it really does show in such a visceral direct way that the power of cannon artillery cannot be denied even in this day and age… perhaps more so in this day and age with the capacity to get such good intelligence and reconnaissance with UAVs and other modern technologies that can provide a high volume weapons system like a 105mm, 155mm or similar howitzer (msta-b in video) an endless list of targets.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/152_mm_howitzer_2A65_Msta-B

Understand that at the most intense flashpoints of battle, especially in a counter attack, casualties are a given to some degree. What this kind of artillery and sufficient artillery ammunition allows Ukraine to do is use an overwhelming volume of artillery fire to suppress, disorganize and demoralize the enemy, then smoke shells can be fired to cover the advancing friendly forces. The impact of artillery doing this on saving the lives of Ukrainian infantry and armor crews who are actually given the responsibility to break the enemy at their most vital point that they will defend most brutally… it isn’t really something you can put into words.

Every time one of those guns fires it is potentially saving many Ukrainian lives by making it so Ukrainian infantry can decisively take territory without encountering fresh, organized, entrenched resistance that will punish every mistake and blindspot in the Ukrainian counter attack.

A similar point can also can be said for delaying actions, in order to hold back a massive offensive like Russia is conducting, Ukraine has to accept a moderate temporary loss of territory as a given, and build a strategy around what is called “delaying actions” where you punish the enemy maximally in time and in manpower lost for every meter they gain.

In order to do this in a way that best keeps the defending troops alive however, Ukraine really needs overwhelming artillery support so that a barrage of artillery laid down along the periphery of a defensive position can create the operational space to stage a retreat of troops from said defensive position without being fatally exposed or overrun before they can act.

I hope my country continues to supply artillery ammunition, but I am glad Ukraine now has multiple international partners to ensure they can’t have this capability cut off from them.