Ukrainian gunners published photos of their work, which clearly capture the Italian 155mm FH70 howitzers.

44th Separate Artillery Brigade shared this on their press service social media page.

Their Italian origin can be assumed by the artillery tractors, namely the Iveco Astra SM 66.40 Prime Mover, that were supplied with howitzers.

Previously, FH70s were only spotted with MAN Kat trucks 1 6×6, which indicated that they were donated by Estonia.

Earlier, in May, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported on the transfer of FH70 towed howitzers to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Artillery systems arrived as part of the 3rd military assistance package for Ukraine.

FH70 is a mobile howitzer, which was being developed by the United Kingdom and Germany since 1969, and later, Italy joined the developers. The project was intended to replace the American M114 155mm howitzer. In 1976, the howitzer was adopted.

The howitzer consists of several parts: a barrel, a cradle with an anti-recoil device, and a shell loading mechanism.

The semi-automatic loading system operates at any angle of the gun barrel lift and consists of a loading tray that supplies the projectile to the breech.

Previously, the gunners of the Armed Forces of Ukraine already had the opportunity to assess the effectiveness of FH70 155mm howitzers. The military shared that the howitzer gives a fairly accurate hit already with the second shot. With a limited amount of artillery ammunition, the Ukrainian military manages to compensate for this with calculation and gun accuracy.

“Accuracy comes to the fact that the first projectile falls near the target about 50-60 meters away, and on the second shot, you can already hit the target,” says the Ukrainian gunner.

Also, the howitzer operators noted the comfort of its work due to the built-in Volkswagen 1.7 liters engine, which not only feeds the hydraulics of the gun when it is put into combat or rolled up but also allows the howitzer to move independently.

“The crew almost never stress; almost everything in the howitzer is hydraulic,” the military emphasized its benefit.

The FH70 howitzer reaches a speed of 16 kilometers per hour. Gunners shared that this allows them to quickly hide the cannon in a forest side.