Soldiers of the artillery battalion of the 5th Assault Brigade told about the use of М119А3 howitzers. The М119А3 is a licensed copy of the British L119.

The video was released by the press service of the 5th Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The video shows the gun deploying, sights installing, and preparation for firing. In general, the М119А3 version should be equipped with a ballistic computer, a radar for measuring the muzzle velocity and an additional generator. But all these elements on the transmitted howitzers are absent.

The M1152A1 (HMMWV) is used to tow the gun.

A M137A2 panoramic telescope’s installation can also be seen on the vid.

According to one of the Ukrainian gunners, despite the caliber of 105mm, the howitzer is quite powerful and can accurately destroy enemy equipment and dugouts at a distance of up to 10 kilometers.

In the summer of 2022, Ukraine received American M927 105mm high-explosive rocket-assisted (HERA) shells, which allow accurate fire at a range of 18-19 km.

This is about 40% range increase and a significant increase in lethality over the standard M1 Cartridge, which can reach targets at a distance of 11-12 kilometers.

The jet engine functions approximately 15.25 seconds after leaving the gun barrel. The warhead contains 2.63 kg of explosive. M927 provides an increase in lethality of up to 80% compared to the standard M1 projectile.

In total, Ukraine received 72 U.S.-made M119A3 howitzers and 36 L119 howitzers from the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

You can read more about the difference between М119, L119 and L118 in our article “British classics in the steppes of Ukraine: the L118/119 howitzer.”

The author describes the main differences between howitzers of the American and British types and explains where these differences came from.