Nato pins hopes on heavy artillery, drones and radar to blunt Russian offensive

Alliance planners also considering how sophisticated new weapons could turn tide in battle against invaders

Soldiers get ready to use test a US Army M777 howitzer, scores of which are being sent to Ukraine, during Nato exercises at Orzysz training ground, north-eastern Poland. EPA

The batteries of heavy artillery being sent to Ukraine could well blunt the growing Russian offensive but military researchers are also considering advanced weapons to strike against Moscow’s military might.

There are warnings that the vast array of weaponry entering the country from Nato powers could lead to confusion and waste, with calls for a more coherent plan.

The US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin was hosting a meeting of Nato defence ministers on Tuesday to discuss the coordination of weapon deliveries to Ukraine and other security issues.

Germany also demonstrated that it was stepping up its delivery of heavy weapons by confirming that was sending the Flakpanzer Gepard anti-aircraft systemsto Ukraine. The tracked weapon carries two 35mm Oerlikon cannons and a radar that can bring accurate heavy gunfire onto aircraft at a range of 5,500 metres.

But for now, it is the artillery pieces along with many thousands of shells that are trundling into the country from the US, the Netherlands, Poland, Britain and Czech Republic that could turn the tide.

The Russians have long called artillery the “God of War” and by concentrating their firepower in Donbas they can bring to bear a formidable firepower to remove Ukraine’s army from its well-dug-in positions.

In response, the Ukrainians are developing a new, agile method of counterattack using drones, radar and their own howitzers to retaliate with counterbattery fire.

If they can transport enough guns to the east in time, they may well make it impossible for the Russians to penetrate deep into Donbas.

It is relatively easy to train gunners on towed artillery pieces, making them ideal for the short-term. Hence the US is sending at least 90 M777 howitzers and 180,000 rounds. The gun, more recently used in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, can send a 155-millimetre shell 24 kilometres with a well-trained, eight-man crew able to fire a steady rate of two rounds per minute.

More formidably, the Dutch are understood to be sending about 20 of their Panzerhaubitze 2000s to Ukraine that could prove significant. The tracked Pzh2000s can fire three shells in nine seconds and tolerate 20 rounds in two minutes. They are highly accurate and their rocket-booster shells can give them a range of 67km or 35km without.

A Dutch Panzerhaubitze 2000 fires a round in Afghanistan. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

They were successfully used in Afghanistan, with one Dutch battery firing 4,000 shells during an operation and hundreds more in another in 2007 that killed 50 Taliban members.

“The key point Nato has to consider is, does it want to enable the Ukrainians to defeat Russia or just support them through to the end of their defeat by Russia?” said Sam Cranny-Evans of the Royal United Services Institute. “Being able to blunt Russia’s artillery advantage could prove particularly important. But there are concerns over the rate at which they're chewing through ammunition at the moment, they would probably be looking at new gun barrels every week or every other week.”

Artillery spotters

Key to thwarting Russia will be the ability to spot their guns once fired and bring down accurate counterbattery fire. The US is providing Ukraine with Firefinder radar that can rapidly detect and track incoming artillery, rocket and mortar fire giving crews the precise point of origin.

The more Firefinders the Ukraine can get – they are easily transportable by lorry – the easier it will be for their radar to track down Russian guns across the 400km front.

Ukrainian ingenuity has led to a rapid development in using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to spot Russian targets. Traditionally artillery spotting has been a specialised task using camouflaged soldiers to adjust and direct shelling. But by adopting quadcopters or multicopters – often bought commercially – the Ukrainians have at times brought down devastatingly accurate fire.

A Ukrainian serviceman flies his drone in the city of Irpin, near Kyiv. EPA

However, the greater distances and more open countryside in eastern Ukraine might require bigger drones with longer endurance.

“More of those platforms would be very welcome helping to ‘spot’ for Ukrainian artillery, but UAV-delivered munitions would also be a real force multiplier too,” said Nick Brown, a weapons specialist at Jane's Defence Weekly.

Nato could provide “smart” missiles specifically designed for small UAVs with “guided rocket and micro-munition options”, he said.

Some analysts believe that with the Russian forces now more concentrated and experienced after early setbacks, the Ukrainian use of their Turkish-built Bayraktar combat drones might prove less effective against their missiles and electronic jamming.

Intriguingly, “kamikaze drones” could prove most decisive in taking out high-value Russian targets such as surface-to-air missile systems, senior officers or radar sites.

The Americans have sent 400 Switchblade loitering drones but it has also been confirmed by the Pentagon that it will fly in 121 Phoenix Ghost drones, specially developed by the US Air Force for the Ukrainians in the past two months. When launched, the drones can “loiter” in the air, hunting for a target, then swoop down using their explosive warhead for the terminal attack.

A Ukrainian soldier sits on top of a tank passing the Lysychansk Oil Refinery after if was hit by a missile at Lysychansk, in Luhansk region, Ukraine. Reuters

“These are potentially very useful,” said Justin Bronk of Rusi. “They can hunt down things from air defences to higher-end assets, because they're small enough to be very difficult to track.”

Tanks

The Ukrainians appear to have actually increased their stocks of tanks since the war began, with abandoned Russian T-72s replenishing their stocks. Poland is understood to have sent 100 additional T-72s and might also be supplying the Explosive Reactive Armour that protects against anti-tank missiles.

Again, the Ukrainians have used their tanks cleverly, combing them with infantry and other vehicles for attacks. Sometimes a single T-72 has caused enormous devastation.

Given the training time and maintenance required for modern Nato tanks such as the US Abrams or British Challenger-2, the Ukrainians are likely to rely on Soviet-era kit for now. However, Germany is providing tracked Marder infantry fighting vehicles, which will give good protection against artillery fire as well as an effective 20mm cannon.

Ukraine’s armed forces could benefit greatly from non-lethal equipment such as good night-vision goggles (NVGs), decisive for fighting in the dark.

“The Russian Spetsnaz special forces have a lot of NVGs and one thing about night vision is that if one side has it and the other doesn't then it is incredibly one-sided,” Mr Cranny-Evans said. “They take out an entire platoon with one sniper.”

Other simple things such as self-applying tourniquets could prove highly effective by stopping bleeding, potentially allowing wounded soldiers to return to the fight rather than dying.

It is likely that western powers are considering a number of high-quality weapons that could create real difficulties for the Russians.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres visits Borodyanka, near Kyiv, where Russian forces are accused of killing civilians. AFP

Children play in the wreckage of a Russian armoured vehicle in Lukashivka, Chernihiv region, northern Ukraine. The village has been retaken by Ukrainian forces. EPA

A cyclist passes a destroyed building in Derhachi village, near besieged city Kharkiv, in north-eastern Ukraine. AFP

Burnt-out wreckage of a tank in Kolychivka village, Chernihiv region, northern Ukraine. EPA

A Ukrainian flag flies in a park in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. A rocket attack on the city railway station earlier in April killed at least 50 people. AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses a meeting of MPs in St Petersburg. EPA

Youngsters Faddei and Oleksandr play in front of a church damaged during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the Chernihiv region. Reuters

A demonstrator turns emotional as she attends a rally in Kyiv demanding a humanitarian corridor to rescue civilians from Mariupol. Reuters

A Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-25 releases decoy flares as it provides air support to Ukrainian ground forces near central city of Yampil. AFP

An officer from National Guard of Ukraine surveys weapons left behind by Russian troops in Chernobyl. AFP

Mr Putin attends a meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Moscow. Reuters

Members of a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency carry equipment as they arrive at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. AP

Ukrainian troops fire rockets from the city of Popasna, near Luhansk. EPA

Lithuanian musician Darius Mazintas plays a piano in front of the Central House of Culture destroyed during Russia's invasion, in the town of Irpin, outside Kyiv. Reuters

Ukrainian refugees Julia, second left, 32, and Miroslava, left, 11, walk away with relatives who received them after they crossed into Poland from Ukraine at the Dorohusk border. AFP

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets Mr Guterres in Moscow. AFP

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Mark Milley, left, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, second left, and Ukrainian Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov, right, attend the Ukraine Security Consultative Group meeting at Ramstein airbase in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany. Getty Images

Smoke rises from an oil terminal hit by fire in Bryansk, Russia. AP

People take pictures by the wreckage of a Russian military vehicle, in the village of Rusaniv, Kyiv region. Reuters

Smoke rises above the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant amid fighting in Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters

People carry a large Ukrainian flag as they attend a rally to mark the 77th anniversary of Liberation Day in Milan, Italy. The day remembers Italians who fought against the Nazis and Mussolini's troops during the Second World War. EPA

A Ukrainian soldier looks at a Russian ballistic missile's booster stage that fell in a field in Bohodarove, eastern Ukraine. AFP

People watch as a residential building burns after Russian bombardment in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. EPA

A young girl in front of people carrying a huge Ukrainian flag during a peaceful demonstration entitled 'Solidarity with Ukraine' in Krakow, Poland. Reuters

A boy stands next to a wrecked vehicle in front of an apartment damaged during the conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters

This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damage at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP

A Ukrainian man rides in front of a destroyed building in Kharkiv which had been shelled by the Russians. EPA

A Ukrainian Territorial Defence fighter in a shelter with an Easter Cake near Kharkiv. Ukrainians mark Orthodox Easter today. EPA

Residents receive Easter cakes and apples handed out by pro-Russian troops on Easter Day at the Svyato-Troitsky Church in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters

A woman photographs the scene of yesterday's shelling in the southern Ukraine city of Odesa. Eight people were killed, including a three-month child, and about 20 were wounded. EPA

A military chaplain blesses Ukrainian soldiers on the occasion of Orthodox Easter not far from the city of Izyum in Kharkiv. EPA

An internally displaced man walks with dogs in the Palace of Culture, which was damaged by shelling in Rubizhne, eastern Ukraine. AFP

Tulips grow next to a building destroyed by shelling in Rubizhne. AFP

Internally displaced people wait to receive food inside a factory that has been turned into a shelter, in Severodonetsk. AFP

Members of the Ukrainian Red Cross carry a woman, 92, to an ambulance from a bunker at a factory in Severodonetsk. AFP

Ambulance workers move an injured Ukrainian serviceman to a hospital in Donetsk. AP

A woman sits inside a subway station that has been turned into a shelter, on the outskirts of second largest Ukrainian city, Kharkiv. AFP

Residents shelter in a subway station in Kharkiv. AFP

Anastasiya Kryvoho attends a candlelight vigil for Ukraine on the Orthodox Holy Saturday, in Toronto, Canada. Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses a press conference with international media in an underground metro station in Kyiv. AFP

Firefighters work at the scene of a fire after shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. EPA

A family from Myrne, a town occupied by Russian forces, wait to register with police at an evacuation point for people fleeing from Mariupol, Melitopol and surrounding towns. Getty Images

Oleksandr, 25, meets his parents Olga, 49, and Oleksandr, 50, who fled from the Russian-occupied village of Lyubimivka, at the evacuation point in Zaporizhzhia. EPA

Residents walk near a damaged military vehicle in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol. AP

A heavily damaged apartment building in Horenka. Getty Images

Residents wrapped in blankets stand near their houses damaged by Russian shelling in Odesa. AP

A Ukrainian flag is installed on top of a gob pile in Lysychans, eastern Ukraine. AFP

A Ukrainian soldier rests at a checkpoint in Severodonetsk. AFP

The Israeli-made Spike missiles system – when mounted on a tracked vehicle called Exactor by the British – can strike targets with extreme precision more than 25km away. It was used to great effect in Helmand, taking out bombing teams and Taliban commanders.

Similarly, the US could supply the relatively straightforward Himars long-range artillery that can fire a salvo of six 1,670kg rockets up to 300km.

There is talk that the Norwegian company Kongsberg might supply its potentially deadly Blue Spear anti-ship missiles that with a range of 400km could dominate the Black Sea.

Nato will seek other weapons systems that will certainly seek to hurt Russia. The new inventory will provide a testing training and maintenance task for Ukraine but it could also save them from conquest.