Speaking on changes and continuity for artillery following from the Ukraine War, Oliver Fort, artillery marketing director at KNDS, bore witness to artillery warfare as a war of resources, in an address to the Future Artillery 2024 conference in Paris on 21 May.
Fort emphasised the need for sustainable and cost-effective solutions, discussing the evolution of artillery systems and the importance of optimising ammunition supply and logistics.
“So it’s a war of resources. That is, for me, the overarching theme. As a war of resources, it’s so explained to us that every little duel is a part of the bigger game, and very often what they consider is that the Western equipment is too expensive compared to the Russian equipment,” said Fort.
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At the conference this year, counter-battery fire and survivability held an unusually prominent position in discussions, reflecting technological and tactical advances spurring the attention, and the reality of a prolonged and highly attritional military conflict on Nato’s Eastern Flank.
Fort highlights a major advance in the modern state of counter-battery fire; it is no longer directed by counter battery radar, but instead by Uncrewed Arial Vehicles (UAV) or loitering munitions. The prevalence, utility and significance of these systems poses a problem of resources for commanders seeking to neutralise the drones with conventional anti-aircraft and air defence systems. “Whenever you have, for example, the Lancet [UAV], that can you can destroy with a SHORAD missile that cost €1m – while the lancet is €30,000. Yes, you have destroyed the UAV, but in the long-run you may not be able to sustain the war over many years.”
Fort did identify an alternative with a lower cost in resources than anti-aircraft and air defence systems. The use of a decoy, worth €20,000, compares favourably when employed against more expensive drones systems. “We have worked with a company in the Czech Republic that does decoys, and they do decoys that are cheap enough, because they are cheaper than the Lancet. But, I know that there are decoys that are more expensive than the Lancet. Anytime you put [out] a decoy try to make it not more expensive than the enemy ammunition.”