Russia hits 84 Ukrainian artillery units in firing position, destroys US-made M777 system

In a recent development, the Russian military has hit 84 Ukrainian artillery units in the firing positions. This came in the course of its special operations in Ukraine in the past 24 hours. Russian defence ministry spokesperson Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov said that the Russian troops inflicted a defeat on 84 artillery units of the Ukrainian armed forces in firing positions, manpower and equipment in 128 areas, as per a Russian News Agency report.

The Russian armed forces destroyed the US-made M777 howitzers artillery system. As per reports, Konashenkov further informed that, in the Kherson region, upto 20 Ukrainian servicemen, an Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer as well as US made M777 howitzer were destroyed in the past 24 hours. The Russian agency report also stated that in the Kupyansk area, units of the battleground west destroyed more than 70 Ukrainian military and also hit the ammunition depot in the Kharkiv region.

About the M777 Howitzer system

The M777 howitzer systems are developed and manufactured by the BAE systems. The M777 was introduced in 1987 as an ultra field howitzer developed by Vickers shipbuilding and Engineering’s armament division. BAE systems bought it after tests and have been manufacturing and future designing and developing these guns.

It provides navigation, pointing, and self-location using a digital fire control system similar to that found on self-propelled howitzers like the M109A6 Paladin, enabling rapid deployment. The Canadian M777 utilises a digital fire control system known as the Digital Gun Management System (DGMS) created by Leonardo MW with components of the Indirect Fire Control Software Suite (IFCSS) built by the firepower team in the Canadian Army Land Software Engineering Centre in conjunction with the conventional glass and iron sight mounts. The Leonardo MW component of the system, referred to as LINAPS, had already been demonstrated through use with the British army's 105mm L118 light cannon.

It has a mass of 4200 kgs, a combat length is 35 ft, a travel length of 31 ft, and a length of the Barrel is 16.7 ft. It has a crew of 8 members. Its calibre is 155mm or 6.1 inches. It has a split trail carriage and an elevation of 0- 71.7 degrees. The rate of fire is of two types normal and maximum, the normal rate of fire is 2 rpm and the maximum rate of fire is 4 rpm. The muzzle velocity charge 8s is 827 m/s or 2,710 ft/s. The effective range of the M107 is 21km, and the range of the M795 is 23.5 km or 14.6 miles. The base bleed excalibur is 40 km (25 mi). It also has many different variants of guns:

M77

It is a gun with optical fire. It provides navigation, pointing, and self-location using a digital fire control system similar to that found on self-propelled howitzers like the M109A6 Paladin, enabling rapid deployment. It has a mass of 4200 kgs, a combat length is 35 ft, a travel length of 31 ft, and a length of the Barrel is 16.7 ft

M777A1

It is with the digitization upgrades. With the addition of an onboard power source, satellite global positioning, inertial navigation, radio, Gun Display Unit (GDU). Also a  Section Chief Assembly or the SCA.

M777ER

Upgrade created by the extended range cannon artillery (ERCA) project to extend the range from 30-70 km. Modified with a longer 55-Calibre, 9.1 m barrel and supercharged propellant firing the XM1113 rocket-assisted projectile. It has been used by the US military in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Multiple M777A2 guns were deployed to Iraq on the border with Syria from 8 November 2018 to April 2019 to support the Syrian Democratic forces in the battle of Baghuz Fawqani, the ultimately successful operation to capture the final town held by the Islamic State group. They are deployed to Firebase Saham, a base freshly constructed by the US Army to provide fire support during the battle. Especially during cloudy days when US aircraft could not see to conduct airstrikes.

It is currently operated by the military of several countries- like Australia, Canada, Colombia, India, the United States, Ukraine and the UAE. Ukraine has received 152 systems (108 of which were given by the US along with 200,000 155mm artillery rounds and 18 in the additional package with 36000 artillery rounds, 4 systems by Canada and 6 systems by Australia have been given to Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. M982 Excalibur precision-guided munitions have also been provided by Canada. An additional donation of 16 M777 by the United States was announced in October 2022.