The US Army recorded a 155 mm artillery fire beyond 100 km

The US Army announced that it had fired 155 mm artillery beyond the symbolic 100 km mark, while the role of long-range artillery was demonstrated again during the conflict in Ukraine.

Faced with the rapid development of the capabilities of the Chinese armies, and to a lesser extent of the Russian, North Korean and Iranian armies, the US Army launched in 2017, like the other US armies, a vast program aimed at developing its organization and its equipment from a model optimized for the counter-insurgency engagements of the past 20 years, to a model adapted to high-intensity engagement, as during the Cold War.

Among the major development topics, several key programs have emerged, such as the Future Vertical Lift which aims to replace aerial equipment (helicopters and drones) in service with the Future Long Range Air Assault (FLRAA) and Future Attack and Reconnaissance Aircraft programs (FARA), the densification of anti-aircraft and anti-drone systems with the Gardian and MEHEL programs, or even the replacement of Bradley infantry fighting vehicles with the Optionally Manned Fighting vehicle program, or OMFV.

The role of 155mm artillery in Ukraine

As was the case in the early 70s with the BIG 5 super program, the US Army also undertook to replace its artillery and enemy depth strike capabilities, in particular through the Extended Range Cannon Artillery program, or ERCA.

It is true that in this area, if Lockheed-Martin's HIMARS have proved very effective in Ukraine, this has not been the case with the M109s offered to Kyiv by its European allies. Thus, in a documented way, these are no less than 21 Italian, British and Norwegian M109s that were destroyed or damaged since the beginning of the conflict, but also more than fifty M777 towed guns offered by the United States, against only one German Pzh 2000 and two damaged French Caesar guns.

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