The war in Ukraine has shown that artillery remains the king of the battle. Both sides in the conflict rely heavily on long-range fire to inflict casualties and deny territory to the enemy. The M777 155mm howitzer has bolstered the long-range fire capabilities of the Ukrainian military. But for many, it is the formidable M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzer that the Ukrainian military needs the most.
Introducing the M109 Paladin
Built by BAE Systems, the M109 Paladin weighs 27.5 tons and measures 30 feet in length. It has a crew of four, including a commander, driver, gunner, and ammunition handler and loader. The M109 Paladin is the A6 version of this self-propelled howitzer. The U.S. military operates more than 900 howitzers of this type.
The M109 Paladin is armed with the M284 155mm Howitzer. An M2 Browning .50 caliber heavy machine gun sits on the top of the vehicle. The M126 gun uses an M127 mounted with a fume extractor and a large muzzle brake to reduce recoil. A hydraulic system allows the crew to elevate the gun or traverse the turret, but there are also manual controls for emergency use.
The M109 Paladin has a maximum rate of fire of eight rounds per minute, and a sustained rate of one round every three minutes. The self-propelled howitzer can fire its munitions approximately 15 miles away using unassisted rounds, and approximately 19 miles using assisted rounds.
Some M109 Paladin howitzers are able to fire the M982 Excalibur extended-range precision-guided munition that has a range of about 25 miles. The vehicle can pack a maximum of 93 rounds, but it usually carries about 40.
The self-propelled howitzer can fire a round within a minute after stopping into a firing position, making it a great platform for so-called shoot-and-scoot tactics. This protects it against counter-battery fire, thus increasing its survivability on the battlefield.
The M109 Paladin is protected by Kevlar and anti-spall lining in the turret. Its main body armor protects the self-propelled howitzer from small arms fire such as rifles and machine guns, as well as artillery shell splinters if the vehicle receives counter-artillery fire.
The vehicle is powered by a two-cycle diesel DDEC 8V71T engine that can produce 440 horsepower and uses an Allison Transmission XTG-411-4A cross-drive transmission with four forward and two reverse gears. It can reach speeds of up to 40 miles per hour and has an effective range of 214 miles.
M109 Paladin Howitzers for Ukraine
With the second phase of the war, the needs of the Ukrainian military are growing and getting more complex. Before, Ukrainian forces were defending against Russian advances and relied heavily on anti-tank weapons to stop Russian mechanized columns. Now they are conducting counterattacks and have to deal with masses of Russian artillery fire.
The Ukrainian military has asked for and received artillery pieces from the U.S. and NATO. The Pentagon is sending 90 M777 155mm Howitzers to Ukraine, while Canada and Australia are sending additional howitzers of the same type. Moreover, the United Kingdom is sending 12 AS-90 155mm armored self-propelled artillery pieces, France is contributing 12 CAESAR 155mm trucked self-propelled howitzers, and the Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy have agreed to send their Panzerhaubitze 2000 SP 155mm self-propelled howitzers – or M109 Paladins, when the countries have them.
The U.S. military is the largest user of the M109 Paladin. So it is natural to wonder whether the Pentagon will be adding the self-propelled howitzer in any future shipments of military aid to Ukraine.
Blasting a 155mm Howitzer round during a gun calibration exercise at Destiny Range, Soldiers from 1-9 Field Artillery make the earth tremble as they fire over 30 rounds from an M109A6 Paladin, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Mosul, Iraq, April 23.
M109A7 Paladin. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
One really big gun: The earth shakes as an M109A6 Paladin fires a gas propelled 155mm Howitzer round through the enormous canon, the biggest of Battle Kings arsenal as 1-9 Field Artillery, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, conducts their gun calibration at Destiny Range in Mosul, Iraq, Apr. 23.
Image Credit: U.S. Army.
“[We are] talking to the Ukrainians at the senior levels all the way down to the staff level about what they need and what we can provide them,” Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said during a press briefing on Monday.
Kirby had been asked why the U.S. isn’t sending any M109 Paladin howitzers to Ukraine.
“And it’s not just the United States. . . other nations are providing systems as well. So, I’m not going to get inside the conversations we’re having with the Ukrainians privately about their needs. But I think the proof is in what we’re announcing every day about how seriously we’re taking their requirements,” the Pentagon press secretary added.
Another senior U.S. official added that the Pentagon talks constantly with the Ukrainian military about its needs. He recognized that long-range fires are probably the most important weapon system in the war right now, suggesting that the U.S. military might be sending additional artillery pieces to Ukraine should the need or want arise.
Image: DOD Flickr.
U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to Alpha Battery, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, fire a M109A6 Paladin in support of the joint training exercise Eager Lion ’19 at Training Area 1, Jordan, Aug. 27, 2019. Eager Lion is an annual, multinational training event in its ninth iteration which enables partnered nations to strengthen military relationships and exchange expertise. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Angel Ruszkiewicz)
U.S. Army Sgt. Manuel Sarabia, a native of San Diego, assigned to A Battery, 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery, Division Artillery (DIVARTY), 1st Armored Division as a crew chief in a M109-A6 Paladin Self-Propelled Howitzer, listens to firing commands over the radio during the first day of DART (Division Artillery Readiness Test) at Dona Ana firing range just outside Fort Bliss, Texas, Dec. 7, 2015. DART is a new, three-day exercise that will determine the readiness of DIVARTY FA units through live-fire exercises, react to contact, improvised explosive device (IED) defense and casualty and vehicle evacuation. (U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. James Avery, 16th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
1945’s New Defense and National Security Columnist, Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate. His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
Alex
May 10, 2022 at 3:26 pm
Jim Chambers (Fergie Chambers) – a journalist from NY spoke about how he SAW the attacks of Ukrainian fascists on peaceful Ukrainians. He told how he SAW what horrors the Bandera Nazis were doing to the Ukrainians. He said that food and medicine appeared when the Russian Liberators came.
He told how he SAW Nazi paraphernalia wherever the military of Ukraine abandoned their positions (swastikas, Mein Kampf books, paintings by Hitler, Bandera, etc.).
He SAW how opponents of the regime of the Ukrainian authorities were detained, tortured and killed. He told how the people of Ukraine are waging their struggle for existence and for peace without Bandera Nazis. He spoke about how the Russian liberators help civilians and the Ukrainians ask the Russians not to leave. The Ukrainians are upset that the Russians came late, they should have come earlier.
He said: “Our American weapons have only exacerbated the useless bloodshed in a battle that the Ukrainian fascists can never win. I am ashamed to carry an American passport with me. The world desperately needs a Russian victory: at the end of Ukrainian Nazism and at the end of the American NATO empire. World needs victory for freedom.”.
Julius Rosen
May 11, 2022 at 8:46 am
What an idiotic opinion this guy has. If that’s the case we should all just drop our weapons and let Russia take over the world
Jesus
May 11, 2022 at 8:57 am
Poor alex is either a PUTIN useful idiot or his propaganda mouth of lies…
Isn’t obvious to rational intelligence FOLKS that a big bully Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and now .. an independent self governing nation with it’s own strength and weakness like any other country… ITS NOT RUSSIA BUSINESS how UKRAINE governs itself … UKRAINE had a silly army of INCOMPETENT boy scouts back in 2014 … not a fighting army or the slightest threat to huge well armed and trained Russians… the bully boy PUTIN wants to rebuild the USSR and is still pissed that he lost his empire… this is the same dude who blew up a school to blame it on chechina and thus put himself as a hero and president… he murder 200+ Russian babies long before he murders UKRAINE babies…
The author did an incredible job describing the paliden … hopefully they can be incorporated into UKRAINIANS defense and push the barbarians out of UKRAINE…and battle test it for AMERICAN military as we may need it to DEFEND Asian countries from that other even more evil dictator in china …
Joe Bagadonuts
June 17, 2022 at 10:18 am
Who in God’s Great Green Earth would bring a “painting by Hitler” to the front lines?
“Look guys, I know we are busy fighting, but I have an actual Hitler watercolor here! Just bought it on Ebay!!”
Alex
May 10, 2022 at 3:26 pm
Graham William Phillips is an outstanding British journalist who objectively and unbiasedly covers events in Ukraine.
He is in a war zone and interviews all sides. He confirms the existence of Bandera Nazis who brutally torture and kill Ukrainians just because they do not want to see Bandera Nazis in their country.
He confirms that the Ukrainians are asking the Russian liberators not to leave them anymore and not to leave.
It is interesting to see how Graham interviews Aiden Aislin, a Briton who fought on the side of Ukraine as part of the Nazi Azov Battalion and was taken prisoner in Mariupol.
The truth will always see the world thanks to such professionals, and not propagandists, who sometimes have never been to Ukraine and are thousands of miles away.
No Nazism. We — free people will win.
Dan Woodard
May 13, 2022 at 11:27 pm
Phillips has worked for Russian media for the past ten years and covers the war from Russian occupied territory. All Russian media is controlled by the government.
julius rosen
May 11, 2022 at 8:48 am
Just a ridiculous propaganda Russian troll. I can only imagine if the Ukraine did not give up their atomic weapons would Russia have decided to attack?
Jesus
May 11, 2022 at 9:00 am
Poor alex is either a PUTIN useful idiot or his propaganda mouth of lies…
Isn’t obvious to rational intelligence FOLKS that a big bully Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and now .. an independent self governing nation with it’s own strength and weakness like any other country… ITS NOT RUSSIA BUSINESS how UKRAINE governs itself … UKRAINE had a silly army of INCOMPETENT boy scouts back in 2014 … not a fighting army or the slightest threat to huge well armed and trained Russians… the bully boy PUTIN wants to rebuild the USSR and is still pissed that he lost his empire… this is the same dude who blew up a school to blame it on chechina and thus put himself as a hero and president… he murder 200+ Russian babies long before he murders UKRAINE babies…
The author did an incredible job describing the paliden … hopefully they can be incorporated into UKRAINIANS defense and push the barbarians out of UKRAINE…and battle test it for AMERICAN military as we may need it to DEFEND Asian countries from that other even more evil dictator in china …
Jesus
May 11, 2022 at 9:07 am
Poor alex is either a PUTIN useful idiot or his propaganda mouth of lies…
Noway the bully putin would have attacked if UKRAINE retained its nuclear weapons… the west AND RUSSIA promised to maintain UKRAINE independence in exchange.. this relieved Russian anxiety of having INDEPENDENT nukes (which they installed!!) on its borders…
It shows Again..us never to trust a dictator !!
Alex boy must be a little putty useful idiot or from the troll farm of EVIL MORONS and idiots..
Alex
May 11, 2022 at 12:14 pm
A bit of truth.
The head of the UN monitoring mission, Matilda Bogner, said that the organization has reliable information about the torture of Russian soldiers in Ukrainian captivity:
“Ukraine and Russia must promptly and effectively investigate all allegations of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners of war,” she said.
The military-civilian administration of the Kherson region announced their intention to appeal to Putin with a request to include the region into Russia:
“We intend to live as part of the Russian Federation. We fully cooperate and feel as one with the regions of Russia.”
Pfizer, Moderna, Merck, Gilead are testing medicines in Ukraine, bypassing international safety standards, reducing the costs of research programs and gaining significant competitive advantages. Coronavirus vaccine manufacturers have been involved in US military biological activities.
Along with American pharmaceutical companies and Pentagon contractors, Ukrainian state structures are involved in military biological activities, the main tasks of which are to conceal illegal activities, conduct field and clinical trials, and provide the necessary biomaterial.
The American side expanded its research potential both in the field of creating biological weapons and in the field of obtaining information about antibiotic resistance and the presence of antibodies to various diseases in the population of specific regions.
Ukraine has long become a training ground for Western countries to create biological weapons components and test new samples of pharmaceuticals.
The United States, as part of its military biological program in Ukraine, used Mariupol as a regional center for work with the cholera pathogen.
Evidence was obtained of the emergency destruction of documents confirming work with the US military department. A preliminary analysis of the surviving documentation indicates the use of Mariupol as a regional center for the collection and certification of the cholera pathogen.
The selected strains were sent to the public health center in Kyiv, which is entrusted with the functions of further sending biomaterials to the United States.
This activity has been carried out since 2014, which is confirmed by the acts of transfer of strains.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby on Fox News recalled that the United States supplied weapons to Ukraine long before the start of the Russian special operation.
“The Biden administration was supplying weapons long before the invasion. The first billion dollars that the president allocated for Ukraine did indeed include assistance with lethal weapons … The United States, Canada, Britain, other allies actually helped prepare the Ukrainians, ”Kirby quoted the TV channel as saying.
As military experts and analysts had previously assumed, Ukraine would have brought down all its military power on the Donbass in any case, but Russia was the first to come to the aid of Donyuass.
The world is watching. The world sees. Lies are dying.
Alex
May 12, 2022 at 10:07 am
OK. In Ukraine, 10,000 Russian and 1,000 Russian tanks are destroyed every day. It’s not even funny to read, but it’s not interesting anymore. Let’s talk about the collapsed Russian economy:
The Russian ruble has become the best world currency in 2022. On Thursday, May 12, Bloomberg reported.
According to the latest data, the ruble has grown by 11 percent against the dollar since the beginning of 2022. Thus, it has become the leader among the 31 major currencies monitored by the agency’s experts.
The strengthening of the currency came after the measures taken by the Russian government against the backdrop of Western sanctions, writes Bloomberg. It is clarified that the authorities introduced capital controls, and also obliged exporters to sell foreign exchange earnings. In particular, in March, the President of Russia announced a new procedure for paying for gas by European consumers.
As similar examples, the authors of the article cite the Turkish lira and the Argentine peso, which failed to achieve maximum growth rates after the decisions of the governments of these countries. The Russian currency, on the contrary, responded well to the measures taken, Bloomberg experts conclude.
Only facts, not squeals and fantasies of Bandera Nazis and Slavophobes.