Using the American M777 howitzer.

According to Bulgarian Military, the American M777 towed howitzer caused the deaths of several Ukrainian soldiers while on duty. “After a fierce barrage of fire, the barrel of the M777 howitzer exploded. This resulted in casualties among several Ukrainian soldiers,” the Russian news agency Tass reported, quoting Ruslan Olefirenko, a Ukrainian soldier who is currently a prisoner of war in Russia.

“We have encountered many instances of the M777 exploding after bursts of fire. As a result, there have been many cases of soldiers dying. Many soldiers have become afraid and refuse to work with that artillery,” Olifyrenko said.

Olifyrenko fought in the 53rd Independent Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He was not captured but voluntarily surrendered to the Russian army in the Avdeevka region.

This Ukrainian soldier also stated that he received training on operating the M777 towed artillery in Germany. Olifyrenko's training lasted only five days. Four of those five days were purely theoretical, and the final day was practical use of the artillery. Afterward, he was deployed directly to the front lines as a member of an M777 towed artillery battery.

Olifirenko also stated that the M777's gun malfunctioning wasn't the only problem. During combat, he observed instances of the gun stopping reloading or overheating. Furthermore, Olifirenko added, "several other features of the gun also frequently malfunction and stop working."

A Ukrainian M777 artillery battery.

The cause of the incident

In fact, many incidents involving artillery systems have been previously reported by analysts at the Bulgarian Military magazine. They believe the main cause of barrel ruptures is the overloading of these artillery pieces by Ukrainian soldiers. The M777, and other artillery pieces in general, have limitations on the number of rounds that can be fired in a given period. In combat, there have been many cases where soldiers tried to fire hundreds of rounds a day from a single howitzer, leading to overload and frequent malfunctions.

Experts say that some Western howitzers are designed to fire only 100 rounds per day. This shows us the immense pressure the M777 howitzers are under when firing hundreds of rounds daily.

In early November 2022, the Bulgarian Military website also reported on an interesting case in the conflict in Ukraine. A Ukrainian M777 artillery battery had to replace its gun barrel four times because continuous firing caused the barrel to overheat, resulting in inaccurate shots. According to the source, this M777 had fired 6,000 rounds since its arrival in Ukraine.

A Ukrainian soldier stands in front of a US-supplied M777 howitzer in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on June 18, 2022.

According to statistics, at least six types of Western-made howitzers supplied to Ukraine are currently experiencing problems, including both towed and self-propelled howitzers. Some Ukrainian soldiers have also noticed that when firing the M777, the barrel sometimes fails to recoil, and this occurs after firing 30 rounds in quick succession.

Another American howitzer, the M109, also frequently suffered from burnt loading rings. There were also problems with the Italian FH70 howitzer and the German PzH 2000 howitzer.

The Italian FH70 often experiences nitrogen pressure drops in the barrel balancing mechanism. Meanwhile, the German PzH 2000 suffers from problems with some electronics, such as the controller display overheating.

The last two weapon systems on the list are the Polish Krab and the French Caesar howitzers. They also frequently experience malfunctions with their computing support equipment and gun barrels during continuous firing.

M777 in the Ukrainian battlefield

Immediately after the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, the US supplied 108, Canada 4, and Australia 6 M777 howitzers along with ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces. Canada pledged to provide 10 replacement barrels to replace any worn-out barrels. Typically, a modern howitzer system like the M777 requires barrel replacement after firing up to 2,500 rounds.

Although the M777 must be towed and has a lower rate of fire than the German PzH 2000 and the French Caesar, it is more accurate and easier to use. BAE Systems announced that it is in discussions with the US about restarting production of the weapon, after noticing the M777's good performance in Ukraine and its lower operating costs, which have led many other countries to inquire about purchasing it.

Ukrainian M777 howitzers were destroyed outside Lysychansk.

In November 2022, according to US and Ukrainian officials, one-third of the approximately 350 Western howitzers (including 142 M777s donated by the US) given to Ukraine were inoperable.

Those weapons are either worn out after months of excessive use, or damaged or destroyed in combat. As of early April 2023, between 49 and 81 M777s were reported to have been destroyed or damaged.

Although more effective in combat than other types of howitzers, the use of the M777 by Ukrainian soldiers is becoming counterproductive due to overloading incidents, which need to be rectified; otherwise, such weapons will only exacerbate the situation for Ukraine.

Le Hung (Source: Bulgarian Military)

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Source: https://vtc.vn/su-dung-luu-phao-m777-my-kinh-nghiem-dau-thuong-cua-binh-si-ukraine-ar786370.html