‘The race is on’: Britain moves to get heavy artillery to Ukraine
LONDON — Britain’s defence secretary says allies must move quickly to supply Ukraine with heavy artillery capable of at least matching Russia.
“The race is on to equip Ukraine with the same long-range capability that Russia has so they are not outranged and indeed pinned down,” Ben Wallace told Parliamentarians April 25.
“The next three weeks are key,” he added. “Ukraine needs more long-range artillery and ammunition, and both Russian and NATO caliber types to accompany them. It also seeks anti-ship missiles to counter Russian ships that are able to bombard Ukrainian cities.”
Analysts, including the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank here, have for some time acknowledged Russia has a distinct advantage in artillery capabilities.
Wallace denied weekend media reports claiming the government was sending British Army AS90 tracked 155mm howitzers, but did say consideration was being given to dispatching Army 105mm towed light guns to Ukraine.
Responding to questions from lawmakers, Wallace said the main artillery effort initially centered on procuring Russian equipment, but now has extended to highly mobile Western 155mm weapons.
“We first and foremost started with sourcing around the world 152mm Soviet caliber [weapons] so [Ukraine] can keep going with that and, in parallel, exploring with a number of other nations either 105mm, our main lightweight guns, and the 155mm in more mobile versions than the big armored AS90,” he said.
“One of the things this modern battlefield is showing is you had better move quickly once you have fired your guns because you can be found very quickly by pretty cheap off-the-shelf UAVs,” Wallace added.
