On January 19, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace of Estonia announced that the UK would supply 600 additional Brimstone anti-tank missiles to Ukraine as part of its military aid. And this is five days after it promised to send 14 Challenger 2 tanks and 30 AS-90 self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine.
While a meeting of the “Ukraine Defense Contact Group” is planned in Ramstein [Allemagne]On January 20, pledges to supply military equipment to Kyiv have multiplied over the past few days. In addition to British announcements, Canada said it would deliver 200 Senator armored personnel carriers, to which American Strykers could be added.
For its part, Sweden has indicated that it will supply Kyiv with a new batch of NLAW man-portable anti-tank missiles, as well as 50 CV-90 infantry fighting vehicles from BAE Systems Hagglunds. This completes the 50 M2 Bradleys and 40 Marders promised by the United States and Germany respectively. In addition, Stockholm has again confirmed the delivery of a dozen Archer self-propelled howitzers, each with a 155mm gun that, when coupled with an automatic loading system, can fire Bonus and Excalibur shells at a range of 35/50 miles.
Since the beginning of the war, the Ukrainian army has received significant aid from the west to strengthen its artillery. In addition to the M777, TRF1, FH-70 and D-30 guns, she received self-propelled howitzers M109, AHS Krab, PzH2000, DANA vz. 77, Zuzana 2 and eighteen CAESAr 6×6 [Camions équipés d’un système d’artillerie]one of which was lost in combat, as confirmed by Minister of Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu during an intervention in the Senate on January 18th.
To this list are added the Swedish archer… and the CAESAr 8×8 ordered by Denmark from the French Nexter. In total, the Danish army must have 19 copies [15 commandés en 2017, suivis de 4 autres en 2019, pour remplacer les vieux M109 de conception américaine, ndlr]. The announcement was made on January 19 by Danish Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen.
As a reminder, with a mass of around 30 tons, the CAESAr 8×8 has an increased ammunition carrying capacity compared to those used by the Army. [et qui ont été livrés à l’Ukraine]with 30 shells instead of 18. Thanks to its level 2A or 2B armored cabin, it offers its crew a better level of protection.
The delivery of the CAESAr 8×8 ordered by Denmark had already been mentioned in October 2022. Copenhagen was then considering selling six examples to the Ukrainian army … with the support of France, which could not get beyond the 18 units already delivered to Kyiv.
Whatever it is, and as Mr. Ellemann-Jensen has not failed, it is a “very important and significant donation”. Indeed, since the Royal Danish Army will have to do without such a capacity for some time … unless they quickly place a new order with Nexter [pour des CAESAr de nouvelle génération?].
However, according to the Danish Ministry of Defence, these CAESArs are “still in the works in the Danish army”. And to add: “There are a number of technical issues with the system that need to be dealt with with the manufacturer and Ukraine”.