LONDON – Britain is accelerating a program to update the army’s artillery capabilities in response to lessons learned from the conflict in Ukraine.
The move is intended to deploy a new 155mm howitzer in the British Army’s Mobile Fires Platform program in this decade rather than the 2030s, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told lawmakers on January 16. It also includes buying a stopgap weapon by such time, he said.
According to the existing program plan, a new artillery capability should be available in 2029 to replace the British AS-90 gun, which should be fully operational in 2032.
New aiming data for the weapon has yet to be released. And the officials here have not said what the government will do to urgently secure an interim solution.
The Department of Defense declined to comment other than repeating Wallace’s comments to Parliament.
The donation of the Army’s AS-90 artillery, along with Challenger 2 main battle tanks, is at the heart of a new military aid package for Ukraine, which Wallace describes as Britain’s biggest donation yet.
For some time, there has been increasing pressure to reconsider the timeline for introducing new artillery capabilities.
Even before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, land warfare analyst Ben Barry of the International Institute for Strategic Studies prepared studies detailing how the British would be heavily outnumbered in any battle with the Russian army.
Wallace admitted before the parliamentary defense committee last June that the lack of deep-blow artillery was a major problem.
Now the army must strive to find an interim solution until a longer-term answer can be found quickly.
“My main concern is our lack of deep fire. We’re pretty much overwhelmed by everyone with our heavy artillery. Our AS-90 range is about 23 or 24 kilometers. France and everyone else is within 55 kilometers,” Wallace said.
Swedish, German, French and South Korean defense contractors are among those who have already expressed interest in the Mobile Fires Platform program once the competition officially begins.
The Deep Fire update is part of a broader modernization of Britain’s artillery and fire systems, including the recapitalization of the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS).
At least six of the M270 systems operated by the Royal Artillery, similar to HIMARS, were gifted to Ukraine.
Modern Artillery isn’t the only ability in the spotlight this week.
Over the weekend, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak officially announced that the UK would donate 14 Challenger 2 main battle tanks plus support vehicles to Ukraine.
Wallace went further in his January 16 statement, outlining a major program of new arms sales to the Ukrainian military.
The defense secretary also announced that officials at the ministry are reconsidering whether the planned cuts in armored forces announced for 2021 are still credible.
“Even as we give away Challenger 2 tanks, I will be reviewing the number of Challenger 3 conversions at the same time to consider whether the lessons from Ukraine suggest we need a larger tank fleet,” Wallace said.
MoD officials told the Defense Committee last week that they are “uncomfortable” with some capability gaps and are looking at what they can do to speed up several programs.
Capability gaps in areas such as ground-based air defense, weapons storage, drones, deep fire and logistics were mentioned by officials.
The British are currently in the early stages of significantly upgrading their Challenger 2 fleet to Challenger 3 standard in a 2021 deal with Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land.
However, the 2021 Integrated Review downgraded the main battle tank’s importance in modern warfare and mandated that Britain’s Challenger 2 fleet be reduced from the current 227 to just 148 vehicles – minus the 14 tanks now destined for Ukraine.
The decision sparked controversy, with analysts and lawmakers arguing that such a small number of vehicles meant Britain was effectively forgoing a viable main battle tank force.
The Challenger 3 upgrade will breathe new life into a vehicle that has been neglected by the British in terms of upgrades since it entered service in the late 1990s.
The most visible change to the Challenger 3 will be the introduction of a 120mm smoothbore gun, replacing the Challenger 2’s unique rifled weapon.
Defense purchasing chief Alex Chalk told lawmakers last week that the first 18 Challenger 3s would be delivered in 2027 by the Rheinmetall/BAE joint venture. Full operational capability is planned for 2030, he said.
Fourteen British main battle tanks for Ukraine alone may not significantly change the balance on the battlefield, but they send a political signal to allies trying to do something similar.
Poland and Finland have announced they will donate German-built Leopard 2 tanks, but the transfers are subject to German government approval.
According to Wallace, British tanks should not be viewed in isolation but as part of a broader Western capability package.
“The Challengers should be seen alongside the 50 Bradleys from the United States. These are practically the ingredients for a battle group with division-level fire from AS-90 or other 155mm howitzers. The 14 tanks constitute a squadron, and the 50 Bradleys would roughly make up an armored infantry battle group,” Wallace told lawmakers.
The latest British Weapons Pack for Ukraine includes:
- A squadron of Challenger 2 tanks with armored recovery and repair vehicles.
- A battery of eight AS-90 guns in high readiness and two more batteries in different states of readiness.
- Hundreds of armored and armored vehicles, including Bulldog, pursued armored personnel carriers.
- A maneuver support package, including minefield-busting and bridging capabilities.
- Dozens of drones in support of Ukrainian artillery.
- 100,000 artillery shells.
- Hundreds of missiles including GMLRS missiles, Starstreak air defense missiles and medium range air defense missiles.
- An equipment support package containing spare parts for overhauling up to a hundred Ukrainian tanks and armored personnel carriers.
Andrew Chuter is the UK correspondent for Defense News.