RCH 155: Artillery System Deliveries to Ukraine Delayed Again

The delivery of the first RCH 155 self-propelled howitzers was originally planned for April; however, the training of the initial Ukrainian crews is only now gaining momentum.

The German Aid to Ukraine blog, which monitors the progress of German military aid projects to Ukraine, reported on this.

The command of the EUMAM UA, Ukrainian military training program, stated that the first crews for the latest German artillery systems are still at the initial stages of training, currently mastering the operation of the GTK Boxer armored personnel carrier, which serves as the platform for the RCH 155.

The first practical training stage started no later than May 7, when footage of the training version of the GTK Boxer operated by Ukrainian soldiers was posted on the program’s pages.

The blog author explains that at this stage, daily training includes driving over rough terrain, maneuvering in reverse with limited visibility, and driving on steep inclines. Only after this will training on the actual self-propelled artillery systems begin, lasting several more weeks.

“For comparison, training Ukrainian soldiers on the PzH 2000 takes about seven weeks. Whether the training has already been ongoing for three weeks or has just started, this primarily means one thing: deliveries to Ukraine have not yet occurred and may be delayed by several more months,” the German Aid to Ukraine notes.

This is the second time the deployment of the RCH 155 in Ukraine has been delayed. In November 2023, Axel Scheibel, CEO of KNDS Germany and responsible for its development, stated that the first artillery systems would be delivered by the end of 2024.

In November 2024, Ralf Ketzel, CEO of KNDS Germany, announced that the first systems would be delivered to Ukraine in April 2025.

In January of this year, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius held a symbolic ceremony in Kassel to hand over the first of 54 ordered RCH 155 wheeled artillery systems to the Ukrainian ambassador. However, it is expected to remain in Germany until the training of Ukrainian military personnel is completed.

The purchase of 54 self-propelled artillery systems, as well as nine BOXER RCT30 vehicles, is financed by the German government. According to the blog author, the artillery systems alone will cost €890 million.

In reality, the Ukrainian Defense Forces have had to wait over 2.5 years for the initial delivery of the pilot batch of the first 18 RCH 155 howitzers, which were ordered in 2022. According to the German Ministry of Defence, the delivery of the remaining 48 systems will continue until at least 2027.

Upon completion of the delivery of all contracted self-propelled artillery systems, Germany will fully equip three Ukrainian artillery battalions exclusively with RCH 155 howitzers.