Un report published by the very serious Royal United Services Institute, draws up an uncompromising observation concerning the real firepower available to the British Army, considered incapable of measuring up to an adversary like Russia, for example. After highlighting theWeaknesses of the Royal Navy in anti-submarine warfare, and the Royal Air Force in terms of air superiority, it is the turn of the British army, the British Army, to be the subject of a harsh analysis by a Think tank on its effective means, and on its capabilities to withstand high-intensity engagement, particularly regarding its glaring lack of artillery systems.
Today, the British army only has 2 regiments equipped with 155mm and 39 caliber AS90 self-propelled howitzers which entered service in the mid-90s, at a rate of 24 howitzers per regiment, as well as 2 airborne batteries. 105 mm L118 towed howitzers, equipped with 6 pieces each, implemented by the 16th Air Assault Brigade and by the 3 Commando Brigades, i.e. a total of only 96 “tubes” for one of the two main European armed forces, with France. Added to this are 35 guided multiple launch rocket system or GMLRS armored rocket launchers with outdated performance. with modern jamming capabilities ou to rocket launchers used by Russia.
However, if this firepower was sufficient in the context of asymmetric engagements such as in Afghanistan or Iraq, two theaters which have severely tested the British army, it is in every way insufficient in the context of a high intensity engagement. , particularly in the face of Russian forces, taken as an example in the report. Indeed, a single Russian armored brigade has 81 mobile artillery systems, ranging from 152mm self-propelled guns like the Msta to multiple rocket launchers like the Smerch or the Grad. Thus, the 4th Armored Division of the Guard has, for a strength of 12.000 men, 130 self-propelled guns 2S19 Msta and 2S3 Akatsiya of 152mm, and more than 24 Grad and Uragan rocket launchers. It also has 320 T80Us, twice as many as the 160 Challenger 2s in service with the British Army, and its 63.000 men.
According to the British think tank, it would be essential, in the very short term, for the British Army to equip itself with at least 72 155mm/52 caliber self-propelled guns, a regiment of modern LRMs, and at least one battery of 120 mm self-propelled mortars per combat unit, in order to regain minimum firepower to avoid disastrous attrition in the event of an engagement. In addition, anti-tank capabilities should also be strengthened in the very short term, with at least one battery of vehicle-mounted anti-tank systems per combat unit, similar to the engagement formats used at the end of the Cold War. .
Note that the British Army published, in April, a request for information concerning the acquisition of self-propelled artillery systems as part of the launch of a program in this direction. The British BAe, the French Nexter, the German Krauss Maffei Wegman and the South Korean Hanwha Defense Land System have already indicated their interest.
This report is reminiscent of the observed deficit of self-propelled artillery means in the French Army. To compensate for this, the 2019-2025 LPM provides for the acquisition of 36 additional CAESAR self-propelled guns, complementing the 77 already in service, as well as 54 2R2M self-propelled mortars on VBMR Griffon vehicle. It should be noted, however, that despite these orders, the artillery firepower of the entire French Army will barely exceed that of a single Russian armored division. The Bundeswehr only has 108 2000 mm PzH 155 tracked self-propelled guns and 38 MLRS multiple rocket launchers. At the same time, France and Germany have initiated a program, the Common Indirect Fire System, aimed at designing replacements for the 2000mm CAESAR / PzH 155 in the two countries, but the timetable for which is not yet clearly defined. It is clear that artillery is, in Europe, like the number of battle tanks, very insufficient to meet the real firepower requirements for high-intensity combat.