Task and Purpose
The war in Ukraine has a rate of artillery shelling not seen in a war since the Korean War. That Intensity is so high that it’s putting a strain on the artillery pieces themselves, with a third out of commission at any point.
That’s according to the New York Times, which is reporting that a large portion of the approximately 350 howitzers provided by Western nations to Ukraine — including 142 American M777 howiterzers — aredamaged, destroyed or simply breaking down from overuse. Citing multiple U.S. defense officials, the report said that repeated use is wearing down the barrels. The artillery pieces have to be taken out of service and sent to a repair center outside of Ukraine. More
…I’m guessing you’re not bothering to aim if you fire so much to so little effect…but what do you care since I’m paying for both the barrels and the shells…
“United States has initiated measures to boost munition productions and recently negotiated an arms deal to buy 155mm rounds from South Korea to ship to Ukraine, rather than tap into its supply.”
…doublessly noted in North Korea, and likely at the insistence of Pedo Joe’s boss Xi, the better to set something up for later…
Tube wear and the need to replace them isn’t something new. It happens with every piece of artillery.
There are wear factors that must be logged for every round fired through the tube. The higher the propellant charge, the greater wear. Maximum propellant charge for the longest range would have a factor of say 1.25 ( I don’t remember the exact numbers ) and the lowest charge may have a factor of 0.25. This means the wear from firing one round with the higher charge is equal to the wear from firing five rounds at the lowest charge. Higher propellor charge means higher muzzle velocity.
In the US Army the FDC officer for a battery would track each gun wear and have them retubed, along with the recoil system maintenance, after the total wear factors reach a known total . The US Army doesn’t want shells falling short and this is done for every piece.
Wear out our equipment, use up our stores of munitions, cut military spending to replace. All this on top of all the stuff left behind for the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the depletion of the strategic petroleum reserves. We are bent over with our pants around our ankles.
The ground in Ukraine will freeze solid in the next ten days and the Russian Generals will release HELL on Biden’s gay comic puppet.
“Tube wear and the need to replace them isn’t something new. It happens with every piece of artillery.”
This particular ‘Anon’ post is dead nutz on. Refreshing.
Europeans have always been war whores.
@ TonyR
I just spoke to my contact at one of the biggest petroleum oil reserves along the Texas coast. They had 171 million barrels in their underground caverns when Biden entered office. They are down to 50 million barrels and pumping out daily. Let’s go, Brandon!
I did a no Heat service call today a a Tattoo shop.
3 Yukes of military age, non english speaking, hanging around doing fuck all while I fixed the heat for the shop owner. Vaughan, Ontario, Canada.
All I could think in my mind was “Draft Dodgers”
Whatever…
FJT!
FJB!
F-WEF!
The AFU artillery fire rate is a small fraction of Russian artillery fire, mostly because the AFU doesn’t have anywhere near the quantity of shells that Russia has. There wouldn’t be a single piece of AFU artillery working if the AFU had shells to lob.
And it’s funny how we don’t hear anything about Russian artillery fagging out from extreme usage. Maybe their artillery is tougher, and maybe their big cannon bench is deeper.
But don’t worry, Russia has been running out of everything. For months now.
I wore my tube out once. All in one night. Ah those were the days.
Winter is coming.
The Russians are coming.
The bit about artillery use in the Korean War is one of the most underappreciated events in American mitary history
In the last year of the Korean War, Chinese were attempting to bleed Americans white and cause us to lose patience with endless attacks trying to bait us into infantry battles. They were excelent soldiers and well armed to boot. Pork Chop Hill was one of the last of these battles
We didnt take the bait. We responded with endless arty barrages unlike anything ever seen before. Photos of the war show artillery pieces amidst surrounded by hundreds of used shell casing. We just crushed them under the weight of the steel rain. Eventually the Chinese quit and made peace. God knows how many thousands of Chinese were killed
@Callmelennie
The CCP didn’t care then how many of their citizens died and they don’t care now.
Me thinks.
Not doing maintenance because it’s free. And they will just get more.
Human nature at work, if it costs them nothing, they don’t value it.
The Army has a saying. Artillery is King of the Battlefield. There is a reason for that.
My great uncle was with Patton’s 3rd Army. I have a copy of an after-battle report he wrote. He could not stress how lethal the US artillery was to the Germans. He wrote of landscapes littered with thousands of mangled Kraut soldiers as far as the eye could see from the barrages of artillery shells.
I can’t begin to count the number of times I have posted that ingratitude all but defines the progressive. That applies both individually, and collectively.
Now sit back and let me add a bit to what Anonymous NOVEMBER 28, 2022 AT 6:52 PM posted. Rifled barrel erosion is almost exclusively a function of temperature, pressure and time of exposure. I just gave away a 22-250 barrel I had on a rifle from the time I was ~ 25 years old till I was about 29 years old. I cleaned it and took a look with my bore scope before sending it off and the first nine or ten inches made 40 miles of bad road look like a billiard table in comparison. It had about a thousand rounds down it. I kind of wish I had snapped a few photos just for posterity’s sake.
The rifle has gone through a few barrels since and the one on it today has at least that many rounds down it. I’m shooting the very same load today as then. It’s got some erosion going on that extends about three or four inches. It still shoots like a dream. The barrel I gave away shot real well until it just crapped out one day. I have no idea what if any rifling was left at the breach until it quit on me.
So, that is basically what is going on, but on an accelerated level. I’ve had guys show up here to have me try and diagnose their rifle and I’ve looked at one that had under 300 rounds of 22-250 down it that was worse than the one I gave away. All 300 were fired on a prairie dog town in one morning.
The barrel I gave away was pretty on the outside and the guy fitted it to a Remington 581 and is going to reline it and chamber it to 17 HM2. I kept it in what I call my bag of tricks. That is all kinds of gun parts that “may come in handy some day.” I thought we would cut it off where it’s still good and make a 22 Hornet or 218 Bee contender pistol or who the hell knows. Anyway, it’s found a good home.
The guy has been posting as his project moves forward: https://www.rimfirecentral.com/threads/a-581-is-on-the-way.1261943/page-3
some of you might find it interesting.
JDHasty,
I went with .223 for my farm rifle instead of 22-250 specifically because I chickenshitted about the extra barrel wear. Its much tougher to get parts & Gunsmithing up here for obvious reasons.
Your post just reminded me of that decision years ago. Ultimately it was just for a little bit of extra longevity & slight cost savings on ammo.
Cheers.
…”Rented” isn’t really a fair characterization, either.
If you RENT something to someone, you have an agreement for SOME compensation, and at least a HOPE of getting it back.
We have NONE of that.
These were given to a corrupt, fake foreign goverment installed by the CIA after having been stolen from the American people by a fake “American” goverment that was ALSO installed by the CIA.
We have no hope of ANY compensation and nothing will EVER be returned.
All WE will ever get from it is a bill.
And perhaps a global thermonuclear war.