Ukraine has received long-range, precision rockets such as the US Himars system, which have proven formidable in destroying Russian airfields and key assets such as bridges. But ammunition is expensive and in short supply. While Ukraine has had well-publicized successes using light weapons such as NLAW and Javelin anti-tank missiles against Russian tanks, the Kremlin’s artillery outnumbers Ukraine with more than three Russian shells fired for every Ukrainian round. The Russians also have several years’ worth of artillery ammunition at their disposal, according to a July report by the Royal United Services Institute defense think tank. Russia fires 20,000 shells a day compared to Ukraine’s 6,000, it said. Moscow’s use of drones and radar jamming have made its strikes particularly effective against Ukrainian positions, although Ukrainian forces have recently adapted by using decoy positions to draw Russian fire. Ukraine will need a regular, diverse supply of ammunition, the Royal United Services Institute said. The report said: “A challenge here is that NATO standardization is not very standardized, with different countries’ howitzers not only having completely different maintenance requirements but also using different loads, fuses and sometimes shells. “The current approach of each country donating a battery of weapons in a piecemeal fashion is quickly turning into a logistical nightmare for Ukrainian forces with each battery requiring a separate training, maintenance and logistics pipeline. To make support for Ukraine sustainable requires the provision of one or two types of weapons and for countries to step up production of the appropriate ammunition.”
