British Army personnel have demonstrated a first live firing of a
next-generation howitzer amidst freezing conditions in one of the
largest series of NATO artillery exercises ever conducted in
Europe.
As temperatures plummeted to -3 degrees Celsius just outside the
Arctic Circle, 350 Army personnel joined soldiers from 28
countries - including NATO's newest member Finland – on Exercise
Dynamic Front 25.
During the 12 days of training, which began on the 14 November,
the Army demonstrated its capability by conducting its first live
firing on exercise with the Archer Mobile Howitzer - an artillery
system with fully automated gun designed for rapid deployment.
The system, which can fire more than eight rounds a minute at a
range of 50km, was procured at speed from Sweden last year.
Also demonstrated in training were the enemy artillery detection
radar, TAIPAN, and the UK's Multiple Launch Rocket System, which
can fire up to 12 rockets or missiles in less than a minute.
The training is the first in a wider NATO Dynamic Front 25
series, which takes place across four more countries in the
coming months and aims to coordinate live fire artillery
capabilities between allied nations from the Arctic Circle to the
Black Sea. The exercise reinforces the government's ‘NATO first'
defence strategy which has seen it set European security as its
defence priority and commit to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence.
Minister for the Armed Forces MP said:
“The successful live firing of the powerful Archer Mobile
Howitzer shows we are equipping our Armed Forces with the latest
battle-winning weaponry to help keep the UK secure at home and
strong abroad.
“This joint exercise reiterates our unshakeable commitment to
NATO and demonstrates our collective readiness to meet emerging
threats and deter aggression across Europe.”
The exercise focused on advanced NATO technology, with soldiers
connecting different military systems from multiple members of
the alliance. This allowed shared information to rapidly direct
responses across the field.
This comes a month after the UK announced it will strengthen
NATO's eastern flank with a new defence roadmap signed with
Estonia. The joint declaration will see thousands of UK troops
held at high readiness, ready to defend NATO's eastern flank, in
addition to those deployed in Estonia. It will also boost
cooperation on developing long range missiles with NATO Allies,
improving the Alliance's collective air defence and offering
opportunities to the UK defence industry.
It is the first time Finland has hosted a major international
military exercise since becoming a NATO member following Russia's
illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It takes place as Ukraine
marked 1,000 days of the war on 19th November.
