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NATO Continues Its Disarmament
NATO is continuing its disarmament mission.
France to send an extra 12 powerful Caesar howitzers to Ukraine
French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu's announcement that France will send 12 additional Caesar howitzers to Kyiv is "clearly important for the Ukrainians, particularly the Caesar artillery system", said FRANCE 24 Chief Foreign Editor Robert Parsons.
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"They've been very successful in Ukraine, so the Ukrainians will be delighted, I am sure, to get another 12. I think that brings that total to over 40 now, closing on 50 Caesars in Ukraine.
France has only 77 Caesar howitzer left. Others though are worse off.
Estonia Sending All Its 155-mm Howitzers to Ukraine
Estonia will donate all its 155-millimeter howitzers to Ukraine as part of its most extensive military assistance yet.
The package, previously reported to be worth 113 million euros ($122 million), is expected to boost Kyiv’s defense capabilities amid continuing Russian aggression.
Estonia currently operates 24 NATO standard FH-70 towed howitzers.
Apart from the howitzers, Tallinn will send thousands of 155-mm artillery shells and hundreds of Karl-Gustaf anti-tank grenade launchers.
We know how all that artillery will end.
Several weeks ago Russia launched a special counter-artillery campaign. There are dedicated counter artillery radars, electronic warfare and airborne surveillance systems and long range artillery batteries with precision ammunition engaged in this.
So today I did some staff work and summed up the claimed artillery destruction as listed in the daily 'clobber list' provided by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Here are the results:
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In the last seven days Russia claimed to have destroyed a total of 40 truck pulled howitzers, 32 self propelled howitzers, 8 Multiple Rocked Launcher Systems (MRLS), 15 counter artillery radars and 23 local artillery ammunition depots.
On top of that it engaged Ukrainian artillery positions with normal counter fire on 651 occasions. This will have caused additional damage and losses.
Additionally 55 MLRS rockets and HARM anti-radar missiles were intercepted by Russian air defenses.
If you think that the field reports the ministry receives are exaggerating the numbers, which is likely, simply divide them by half.
In just one week it was still more than Estonia and France promise to deliver.
Yesterday I explained why a NATO or U.S. intervention with ground troops is unlikely. We can add the acute lack of NATO artillery and artillery ammunition to the reasons.
NATO has disarmed its ground forces and is no longer combat capable.
Posted by: Bemildred | Feb 1 2023 11:56 utc | 311
The HellFire missile fired by the Reaper drone has an operational range of 550 to 12,030 yd (0.5 to 11 km) and a maximum speed of Mach 1.3 (995 mph, 1,601 km/h).
The Pantsir AD S1M variant “uses a new 57E6M-E surface-to-air missile with an increased ceiling from 15 to 18 km (9.3 to 11.2 mi), an engagement range from 20 to 30 km (12 to 19 mi) and a speed of 1,300 to 1,700 m/s (4,700 to 6,100 km/h; 2,900 to 3,800 mph).” “The Pantsir-SM variant incorporates a multi-functional targeting station, increasing target detection range from 40 to 75 km (25 to 47 mi) and engagement range from 20 to 40 km (12 to 25 mi).”
The specific feature of the Pantsir-S1 system is the combination of a multiple-band target acquisition and tracking system in conjunction with a combined missile and gun armament creating a continuous target engagement zone from 5 m (16 ft) height and 200 m (660 ft) range up to 15 km (9.3 mi) height and 20 km (12 mi) range, even without any external support.
As quoted here:
The Apache Needs a New Long-Range Missile. Badly.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a36742981/army-apache-helicopter-needs-new-long-range-missile/
The Apache helicopter’s primary armament is the AGM-114 Hellfire, whose range hasn’t increased much since its development in the 1980s. That’s a problem, as a new generation of Russian and Chinese air defense systems have made the skies much more dangerous.
The Russian Tor (NATO code name: Gauntlet) surface-to-air missile system has a range of up to 9.3 miles, while the newer Pantsir S1 (Greyhound) system has a range of up to 12.4 miles. An Apache armed with Hellfire missiles would have to travel well within the combat range of a Pantsir S-1 to get into position to use its missiles.
From the ArmyRecognition.com site:
The Pantsir-S1 is able to defeat almost the entire spectrum of air threats, all types of precision-guided weapons, in particular, flying at a speed of up to 1,000 m/s and approaching from different bearings at an angle of 0- 10 ° to 60 – 70°, aircraft flying at a speed of up to 500 m/s, helicopters, remotely piloted vehicles, as well as light armored ground targets and the enemy manpower.
Since the Reaper fires the HellFire missile, it has the same problem. By the time it gets close enough to fire, a Pantsir will take it out with a response time of 4-6 seconds with a 0.7 probability of a hit.
Of course, that assumes there is a Pantsit around when you need one. Which is probably why the Russians are putting Pantsirs on the roofs of buildings in Moscow. We can presume that all the airbases in range have had their Pantsirs upgraded since the Engels attacks as well.
So two Reapers get sent, they get shot down on their first mission most likely, if not on approach then on withdrawal.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Feb 1 2023 12:23 utc | 316
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