Lurking in a canyon in a Ukrainian forest grove, the aging Soviet-era Akatsiya 2S3 howitzer may be showing its age but not yet being retired.
The Ukrainian army prefers more efficient western weapons but was forced to use whatever it had when the war started, mostly older stocks.
The howitzer, built in 1986 and nicknamed “Lastochka” (“The Swallow”) by its crew, indicates a set of tools on the roof of the howitzer that often requires repairs.
“To shift from second to third gear you have to hammer it or hit it,” said Sergiy, 26, with a smile and clapped loudly for effect.
In contrast, the more modern western artillery computer locks onto its targets and then fires, gaining valuable time to avoid a retaliatory strike.
“We will be remembered as the last to use these systems,” said an officer nicknamed “Baniet” (“bayonet”).
In Ukraine, the army is “satisfied with what it has,” even if it prefers Western equipment “with more computers,” he said.
“Any Lada owner would love a Mercedes,” he added, jokingly referring to the Akatsiya 2S3 and comparing it to the ubiquitous Soviet-era passenger car.
These “Lada” also give 10 kilometers (six miles) or more range to more sophisticated Western devices and are even further behind in terms of precision.
Their strikes land “within a 200 to 300 meter radius” of the target, compared to five meters (16 feet) for a modern guided grenade, according to Pierre Grasser, a Paris-based expert on Russian defenses.
– ‘End of an era’ –
Regardless of its shortcomings, according to Grasser, the Ukrainian army will be forced to abandon the Akatsiya 2S3 due to a lack of ammunition.
Like other USSR-era artillery pieces bequeathed to Ukraine after independence in 1991, it mainly operates with 152mm shells, mainly Russian-made.
In recent months, Ukraine’s allies, led by the United States, have delivered more than 220 howitzers of a different caliber (155mm), which has allowed Kyiv to “switch to a new military standard,” Grasser said.
With such new long-range precision-guided systems, Kyiv was able to hit targets far behind Russian positions, including ammunition depots and supply lines.
“This is a huge surprise because Russia is down in terms of artillery combat for the first time since World War I,” Grasser said.
Ukraine now has “the ability to cover a broader and much more precise field with its artillery” than Russia, whose main tactic has been massive shelling, Pierre Razoux, a military historian, told AFP.
In parallel, “The Swallow” beckons “the end of an era” as supplies of 152mm shells are running low, according to Kyiv-based military analyst Sergiy Zgourets.
Back in the combat zone, “Baniet”, a former Red Army veteran who has little nostalgia for his time in the USSR-era military, said “it doesn’t matter what weapon will crush our enemy”.
“What matters is that it works well and that we have ammunition, whether Soviet or not,” he told AFP.
