Germany boosts Ukraine's defence with critical artillery, munitions
Ukrainians from Germany received one million rounds of small arms ammunition and tens of thousands of 155 mm artillery shells. We present what may have been sent to Ukraine.
Germany supplied Ukraine with 61,000 155 mm artillery shells, which, depending on the intensity of the fighting and shell usage, would last for 10 or 20 days. It may not seem like much, but considering the continuous nature of the aid and the involvement of other countries, Ukraine has and will have the means to continue fighting in the coming months.
Here is what Germany delivered to Ukraine
There are many entities in Germany that produce small arms ammunition, with more well-known ones including RWS and MEN. Ukraine most likely received predominantly 7.62x51 mm NATO and 5.56x45 mm NATO ammunition. This ammunition is used by general-purpose machine guns like the MG3 or the C.G. Haenel MK556 rifles, which have had poor runs in Germany and with the Polish police.
Meanwhile, artillery shells will mostly be basic DM121 shells with a range of up to about 19 miles when using artillery systems with 52-calibre barrels, such as the Polish Krab or the German RCH 155. Although unguided, Rheinmetall boasted that 85% of these shells hit a football field-sized target at maximum range.
Structurally, these shells are steel castings filled with 8.8 kg (approximately 19 lbs) of TNT or other explosive materials and topped with a simple impact fuse.
The second, less common option is the more expensive M1711A1 shells with a gas generator. This generator is located at the base of the shell and generates gases that do not serve as propulsion but reduce the shell's base drag. As a result, the range increases by approximately 30% to about 25 miles while maintaining the same amount of TNT as the simplest shells.
The rarest specialist shells
The advanced SMArt 155 self-guided shells and the guided sub-calibre Vulcano 155 GLR shells were the least delivered to Ukraine. The former has a range of up to about 17 miles and contains two anti-armor submunitions with self-guiding EFP warheads.
After being fired, the shell releases two sub-warheads over the designated area. These scan the area for military targets (e.g., tanks and self-propelled artillery) using a set of sensors (radar and thermal imaging heads) while descending by parachute. Upon identifying objects, they descend over them and detonate above, attacking the weakest top armour. Crews of only a few PzH-2000 howitzers have used them to destroy dozens of Russian armoured equipment located many miles behind the front lines.
The second striking means are the Vulcano 155 GLR shells, distinguished by their much longer range of up to about 50 miles. This is achieved by using a sub-calibre shell, which is smaller in diameter than the barrel calibre, placed in a discardable sabot after firing.
Such a shell has much better aerodynamics and moves faster, leading to a greater range. The downside is a much smaller TNT charge than standard, but this has been addressed with a special warhead capable of detonating in three modes and with high accuracy.
Similar to the Excalibur, it typically has a tandem GPS and INS navigation system, which theoretically ensures a circular error probability (CEP) not exceeding 5 meters. Unfortunately, the Russians have learned to jam satellite navigation, but this is not a problem for these shells.
They can be equipped with an optional laser-guided head, ensuring precision hits within three meters in any condition. However, such shooting requires an observer or drone collaborating with the howitzer, illuminating the target until the moment of impact.
