During the liberation of the Kherson region, fighters of the Separate Artillery Brigade named after the General-Standard-Bearer Oleksiy Almazov, destroyed the equipment and personnel of the Russian invasion forces.

To defeat the enemy, the Ukrainian marine gunners used the American 155-mm М777 towed howitzers, so called “three axes”.

The military told ArmiyaInform about the specifics of operating with this howitzer.

Gunners mastered the M777 howitzer abroad and now continue to improve their skills daily in combat conditions.

Their next target was a group of Russian infantrymen who were setting up their positions for anti-tank weapons. After detecting the invaders, the Ukrainian gunners immediately left for the task and took up a firing position. The howitzer was deployed in just a few minutes.

Modern weapons work very quickly. The 155 mm howitzer can fire five rounds per minute, and with the use of Excalibur precision artillery ammunition, it can hit a target at a distance of up to 40 kilometers.

“Precise and menacing, maneuverable and long-range, as well as powerful, and what is most important — lightweight and accurate: this is the assessment given to the American howitzer by the Ukrainian marine gunners.”

The military noted that in comparison with Soviet howitzers (including the self-propelled gun Giatsint ), the M777 hits more accurately and at a greater distance. Modern weapons are also more convenient to use: the team can operate them more easily, changing directions and working faster on different targets.

“M777 is easy to operate. We have new howitzers, they work much better: they are easier to handle, technically more well thought out units and engines. And what is no less important — weight is a serious characteristic, the speed of leaving the firing position and the execution of firing tasks depends on it, and, to a certain extent, the accuracy of firing,” said the gun commander Oleh.

The M777 is a good example of a weapon with which one would like to continue carrying out fire missions without reverting to the earlier Soviet-era weapons, according to the gunners. “Three axes” are nearly undetected because of their vastly increased shooting range.

The 155mm M777 towed howitzer with a barrel length of 39 calibers is coming as part of military aid to Ukraine from Western countries to fight the full-scale Russian invasion that began in February this year.

The 155 mm M777 howitzer with manual loading and a rate of fire of up to five rounds per minute. Depending on the type of projectile used, the howitzer has a range of between 24 and 30 kilometers.

This makes it possible to gain the advantage over Soviet-era and Russian-made howitzers used by Russian invasion forces in their war against Ukraine.

To hit particularly important targets, the Ukrainian military uses M982 Excalibur ammunition, which is transferred to Ukraine as military aid. This is a 155mm guided rocket-assisted projectile. It is being developed by Raytheon Missile Systems and BAE Systems Bofors.

Excalibur is guided by GPS and can hit targets at a distance of up to 60 km, and in December 2020, during tests, the US Army successfully hit a target at a distance of 70 km. Weight – 44 kg, weight of the warhead – 22 kg.

The experience of use in Iraq proved the high accuracy and effectiveness of the weapon — 92% of hits were with an error of less than 4 meters.

There are versions of “smart” ammunition. They are capable of hitting moving targets.

The cost of such a projectile depends on the modification and can reach more than $200,000.