[Military Subplane] Author: Golden Bomber
Recently, soldiers of the 45th Independent Artillery Brigade of the Ukrainian Army uploaded a combat video taken by a drone on social media, only to see a Russian BMP armored vehicle coming from and going, running around the battlefield like a headless fly, and finally was accidentally paralyzed on the road full of mines. At the beginning, the Ukrainian army probably didn't expect how many people could sit on this armored car, and they were probably ready to dispatch several drones to take a roll call one by one as usual. As a result, when all the Russian soldiers got out of the car and were about to run into the woods, everyone was stunned at once. Because there were at least 15 people in the car. The video of the Ukrainian army was shot through a thermal imaging lens on the drone, and the imaging mode is in white and black mode. The black part is the cooler background, and the white part is the human body. At this time, it was very clear that far more than the normal number of Russian soldiers got out of the armored vehicle and ran quickly into the nearby woods.
▲A large number of Russian troops ran into the nearby woods, picture source: Internet
But how could a two-legged man run faster than a shell, and immediately after that, a picture of a Russian soldier being hit by a shell appeared. At first, only one shell with not too much power fell in the middle of the Russian army, followed by three consecutive covering shells that fell into the target location, causing a devastating blow. Each of these shells made a ring on the ground, enveloping almost all the Russian soldiers. The total length of the video is only a little over a minute, but in the end, there is no longer any possibility of survival for any Russian soldiers. During this period, Ukrainian soldiers also fired a few ordinary shells at the target area, but mainly these shells played a key role. Then the question is, what kind of artillery and what kind of shells is this? Why was it able to quickly shoot out in just a few tens of seconds after the Russian army retreated, and wiped out more than a dozen people in one go?
▲The killing range of the shell is very large, picture source: Internet
In this uploaded video, there is a very obvious watermark in the upper left corner, indicating that it is from the 45th Separate Artillery Brigade of Ukraine. The 45th Separate Artillery Brigade of Ukraine was originally stationed in Lviv in western Ukraine, but after the conflict between East Ukraine in 2016, when it was established in 2022, although it hung the brand of brigade and troops, it was actually only 52 people. It was not until the start of the special military operation launched by the Russian army that Ukraine began a large-scale conscription and filled the total number of the brigade to several thousand. Ninety percent of these people were civilians engaged in ordinary work, but they were quickly trained and deployed to Kyiv, Krivoy Rog, Zaporozhye, Donetsk, Dynepropetrovsk, Luhansk and other regions to participate in the fighting. Because of its outstanding performance in the battles of that year, on December 6, 2022, the Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, representatives of the 45th Separate Artillery Brigade also received a flag from Zelensky.
▲ The relevant report on the website of the President of Ukraine about the 45th Separate Artillery Brigade, picture source: Internet
The 45th Separate Artillery Brigade, as an artillery unit, only began to be formed in 2022, so there was no decent artillery equipment at all before, but some old Soviet-era guns were pulled from the inventory, such as D-20, Msta-B and 2A-36 "Hyacinth" Type B. These guns are all towed guns, and the combat effectiveness is relatively low. It was not until November 2023, when Sweden supplied Ukraine with 8 "Archer" self-propelled guns, that this unit could be considered decently equipped. So it is conceivable that this time the record was won by the 45th Separate Artillery with 155-mm "Archer" self-propelled guns.
▲ "Archer" self-propelled artillery, picture source: Internet
The full name of the "Archer" self-propelled gun is Archer – FH77BW L52, and it is nicknamed "Swedish Gun King". The predecessor of the "Archer" self-propelled gun was the FH77, which was a product of the Swedish company Bofors, although it was only a towed gun, but it was known for its anti-aircraft cable, which was said to be able to fire 6 shells in 25 seconds. The later improved FH77B has a more exaggerated hand speed than the former, and the "Archer" self-propelled gun is the product obtained by installing the FH77B on the civilian truck A30D. Wouldn't the direct use of civilian trucks for a military self-propelled gun affect accuracy? The answer, of course, was, yes, so the truck used by the Swedish "Archer" was an improved version. The Swedes not only added the necessary armor to the front of the truck, but also changed it to bulletproof glass. The lower part of the hull has also been strengthened to prevent the detonation of mines of the 6-kilogram class at least. The tires of the vehicle have also been replaced, and even if all the tires are burst, it does not affect the normal operation of the vehicle.
▲ "Archer" self-propelled artillery, picture source: Internet
Of course, the excellent running gear only makes the "Archer" self-propelled gun more stable, and the final fire output depends on the FH77B05 self-propelled howitzer of the "Archer". The degree of automation of the "Archer" is very high, and the adjustment of various parameters of the artillery is very fast. With 21 rounds of ammunition loaded in advance, it only takes a few minutes to deploy and enter the combat stance.
The "Archer" continued the high rate of fire of its predecessor, the towed gun, which could fire three rounds in a row in 20 seconds, and it took only three minutes to complete all 21 rounds. The ordinary shells of the "Archer" can hit targets at a distance of 30 km, and one of the types of shells is a covered anti-personnel anti-personnel projectile. Obviously, this group of Russian troops was targeted by this artillery in a very short period of time, and in tens of seconds, they ate 3 rounds of 155mm grenades. Actual combat proved that the "Archer" self-propelled guns have a very strong reaction speed and a very strong lethality.