Overview

Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, marked the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the largest conventional war in Europe since 1945. What started off as a hybrid conflict of plausible deniability, soon spread to the Donbas, and then, on 24 February 2022, was escalated into an all-out invasion of Ukraine by Russia. What has not changed since 2014 is the dominant role that the artillery has played on the battlefield – and that in the armed services of both sides. As of February 2022, the gun artillery systems designed in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR; colloquially 'Soviet Union') have formed the backbone of the artillery forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ZSU). Because many of them were worn out already during the eight years of the war in the Donbas, and stockpiles of ammunition were rapidly exhausted in order to blunt the invasion of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (VSRF), starting in mid-2022, Western allies of Ukraine began supplementing and, in some cases, replacing Soviet-designed artillery system by towed- and self-propelled guns of own design. Although relatively small in number even three years later, these systems have not only proved qualitatively superior to Soviet-legacy systems, but also played a critical role in the defence of Ukraine, enabling the ZSU to shift away from the Soviet-style massed fire towards one that emphasises precision, and deploys artillery as a force multiplier. The tenth book in this mini-series within the Europe@War series, the War in Ukraine, Volume 10: Ukrainian- & Western-Designed Artillery Systems, 2022-2024 is based on extensive research with help of first-hand sources, and richly illustrated by authentic photography and documentation, and custom-drawn colour profiles and diagrams. AUTHOR: Wen Jian Chung is a PhD student at the University of California, Irvine with a long-term interest in the development of weapons systems originating in the former Soviet Union. 124 colour photos, 18 colour profiles, 4 b/w photos, 1 colour map, 5 diagrams, 2 tables

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9781804517239

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Wen Jian Chung is a PhD student at the University of California, Irvine with a long-term interest in tank development, particularly Soviet, Russian and Ukrainian tanks.

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