The British Army has completed the first live firing of the Archer mobile howitzer during NATO’s Exercise Dynamic Front 25 in Finland.
Made for rapid deployment, the Swedish-made artillery system is a fully automated, self-propelled, 155 mm howitzer that can fire more than eight rounds a minute at a range of 50 kilometers (31 miles).
Aside from the Archer mobile howitzer, the troops also demonstrated the Taipan weapon locating radar system and the UK’s Multiple Launch Rocket System.
Minister for the Armed Forces Luke Pollard emphasized that the successful live-fire test reinforces the country’s commitment to NATO, aligning with its pledge to spend 2.5 percent of GDP on defense as part of its broader defense strategy.
The exercise follows the UK’s announcement last month that it would strengthen NATO’s eastern flank, assigning a British army brigade along with platforms like the Challenger 3 main battle tank to Estonia.
In addition to the Archer, over 130 weapon systems, such as the Finnish K9 Thunder and French Caesar howitzer were showcased in Exercise Dynamic Front 25.
Exercise Dynamic Front 25
The 12-day military exercise is considered the alliance’s largest-ever artillery exercise held in Europe, located in the Finnish Northern Lapland near its approximately 1,300-kilometer (808-mile) border with Russia.
Finland’s hosting of the event also marks a milestone since it joined NATO in 2023, strengthening the alliance’s eastern flank against the Kremlin.
Beginning on November 4, the inaugural exercise in the series involved about 5,000 soldiers from 28 countries.
Aside from Finland, the event involved drills in Estonia, Germany, Poland, and Romania as it aims to enhance interoperability of the member countries’ artillery units and share information among allied members.
The negative three degrees Celsius (26.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in the training area also helped prepare troops for harsh Arctic conditions and the coming winter that could be the “toughest” phase of the war for Ukraine.
“These NATO exercises are increasingly intended to show other countries, in this case especially Russia of course, that the alliance is united and is capable of defending its members,” Joel Linnainmaki, a researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, told AFP.
Meanwhile, Colonel Janne Makitalo, director of the Dynamic Front 25 exercise in Finland stated that the NATO drills are “not any sort of show of force” that could provoke Moscow.