Estonia Sending ALL Its 155-mm Howitzers to Ukraine

[ExpressLane]

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.

“Together, we will continue to support Ukraine to move from resistance to expelling Russian troops from Ukrainian soil,” the Estonian Embassy in Ukraine said.

Estonia said its decision to send all of its 155-mm howitzers not only aims to support the war-torn nation but to set an example for other countries still reluctant to help Ukraine.

It is meant “in such a way that other countries will have no excuses left why they cannot provide Ukraine with the necessary weapons to win the war.”


https://www.thedefensepost.com/2023/...tzers-ukraine/

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Good job Estonia. You gave ALL of the best that you had. Hopefully the West gets your message and steps up. Ukraine can win this war if it gets the help they need WHEN they need it. Estonia has my respect.

[serendipity]

Every little helps, Estonia knows very well that Putin was eying them up as well.

[Nordberg]

Russia has made an enemy for all time on their borders. I saw a Ukraine interview program online and the people are seriously hurt and hateful. They say they can never forgive Putin for attacking neighbors.

[T. A. Gardner]

Why shouldn't they? Towed artillery is virtually obsolete. Estonia had those in reserve, having replaced them with K-9 Thunder 155mm SPA vehicles made in S. Korea. Getting rid of them makes it more cost effective for the country to continue to buy the K-9's instead.

[ExpressLane]

Why shouldn't they? Towed artillery is virtually obsolete. Estonia had those in reserve, having replaced them with K-9 Thunder 155mm SPA vehicles made in S. Korea. Getting rid of them makes it more cost effective for the country to continue to buy the K-9's instead.

They gave them away. Which would you rather have 24 K-9 Thunder SPA or 24 K-9 Thunder SPA and 24 155 Towed Howitzers

Towed Howitzers are doing a decent job on Russia right now so towed howitzers are still useful apparently.

[ExpressLane]

Every little helps, Estonia knows very well that Putin was eying them up as well.

Yeah with a population of 1.2 million there is no way they could repel Russia without NATO.

[T. A. Gardner]

They gave them away. Which would you rather have 24 K-9 Thunder SPA or 24 K-9 Thunder SPA and 24 155 Towed Howitzers

Towed Howitzers are doing a decent job on Russia right now so towed howitzers are still useful apparently.

The towed guns are nothing but a liability. I could go into why as I wrote a paper on this as part of my master's. It showed the statistical relationship between various modes of unit movement for artillery and how these were a force multiplier. In modern combat, towed artillery is incredibly vulnerable to counterfires because of the time it takes to emplace and the time it takes to go out of battery and move. Maybe against the Russians, who don't seem all that competent, it might work but against a decent opponent, you are looking at deadmen walking.

[ExpressLane]

The towed guns are nothing but a liability. I could go into why as I wrote a paper on this as part of my master's. It showed the statistical relationship between various modes of unit movement for artillery and how these were a force multiplier. In modern combat, towed artillery is incredibly vulnerable to counterfires because of the time it takes to emplace and the time it takes to go out of battery and move. Maybe against the Russians, who don't seem all that competent, it might work but against a decent opponent, you are looking at deadmen walking.

And yet they are being used effectively against Russia right no. Who in Europe is likely to attack Estonia?

[T. A. Gardner]

And yet they are being used effectively against Russia right no. Who in Europe is likely to attack Estonia?

Estonia is not Ukraine. They are one of three tiny Baltic states. They need highly effective systems to defend their country as they have no depth to work with like Ukraine does.

[ExpressLane]

Estonia is not Ukraine. They are one of three tiny Baltic states. They need highly effective systems to defend their country as they have no depth to work with like Ukraine does.

T.A. Would you rather have 24 SPA or 24 SPA and 24 Howitzers . Sure towed aren't as good but 24 SPA aren't as good as 24 SPA and 24 towed. The army and the marines still use towed howitzer BTW.

[T. A. Gardner]

T.A. Would you rather have 24 SPA or 24 SPA and 24 Howitzers . Sure towed aren't as good but 24 SPA aren't as good as 24 SPA and 24 towed. The army and the marines still use towed howitzer BTW.

Extra baggage like that isn't always a better deal. Let's say you put those extra towed guns out and they get whacked in the first few days of the war without doing much. Was it worth the loss? I doubt it. Taking this to an argument from absurdity, it wouldn't be worth it for Estonia to keep WW 1 artillery pieces in use either. They are obsolete. The towed FH 70's are obsolescent. Giving them to Ukraine was no loss to Estonia.

The US Army only uses towed guns with airborne units because of the weight limits on moving artillery by aircraft. The Marines use them mostly because they're beggars much of the time when it comes to equipment. They often get the hand-me-downs from the Army to fight with, not that they do a bad job with what they're given...

[ExpressLane]

Extra baggage like that isn't always a better deal. Let's say you put those extra towed guns out and they get whacked in the first few days of the war without doing much. Was it worth the loss? I doubt it. Taking this to an argument from absurdity, it wouldn't be worth it for Estonia to keep WW 1 artillery pieces in use either. They are obsolete. The towed FH 70's are obsolescent. Giving them to Ukraine was no loss to Estonia.

The US Army only uses towed guns with airborne units because of the weight limits on moving artillery by aircraft. The Marines use them mostly because they're beggars much of the time when it comes to equipment. They often get the hand-me-downs from the Army to fight with, not that they do a bad job with what they're given...

I rest my case.

The 155 mm M777 towed howitzers supplied by the U.S. and other types supplied by ally and partner nations to Ukraine are having a big impact on the battlefield, a senior Defense Department official said at a Pentagon press briefing today.

https://www.defense.gov/News/News-St...official-says/

[Hawkeye10]

The destruction of Ukraine is a feature not a bug. Then it will be build as a WOKE UTOPIA, that will be a stipulation on the financing. There is almost no way five years after this war ends that the Ukrainians dont end up deciding that they were betrayed by the West.

[Cypress]

Unfortunately, Putin is amassing up to half a million troops in eastern Ukraine for what he believes will be a decisive offensive in the next month or so. It's an open question if western weapons will prevail against Russia's enormous manpower and resources advantage.