The UK has delivered 10 additional AS90 artillery guns to Ukraine since its new government took charge in July and is on course to send 6 more in the coming weeks.
The new Labour government promised to send 12 guns to Ukraine within 100 days of assuming office and has upped the number to 16 since then.
A total of 32 AS90s were donated by London to Kyiv in 2023, which is one-sixth of the total AS90 fleet of the British Army.
As an interim replacement, the UK has procured 12 Archer 155mm artillery systems from Sweden, receiving the first in October last year.
In the long run, a few options are being considered under the Mobile Fires Platform program, including the Archer, Nexter’s Caesar, Hanwha Defense’s K9, and Krauss Maffei Wegman’s RCH155.
AS90 Features
The self-propelled, tracked howitzer was first produced by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited in the 1980s and has been in service since 1992.
It features a 155mm 39 caliber barrel capable of striking a target around 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) away.
The gun can fire two rounds per minute in sustained mode, six rounds per minute for three minutes in intense mode, and three rounds per ten seconds in burst mode.
It is operated by a crew of six and is capable of firing a variety of shells including high explosive, smoke, and illuminating rounds.