Compass Points - Arty Answers?
Is there value left in the 155?
Compass Points - Arty Answers?
Is there value left in the 155?
May 14, 2026
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Is there still value in 155 artillery? Several years ago US Marine Corps leaders abruptly decided there was little value in the powerful and inexpensive 155 artillery. The decision was made to strip the Marine Corps of as many as 16 cannon artillery batteries. Marine infantry absolutely depends on air, armor, and artillery to fulfill the traditional mission to locate, close with and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver, or repel the enemy assault by fire and close combat. The ability to use air, armor, and artillery is what gives Marine infantry the capability to take and hold crucial ground objectives. Having the combined arms power to take and hold key territory against significant opposition is a mission special operators are neither equipped nor trained to accomplish.
Instead of enhancing and upgrading Marine the combined arms triad of air, armor, and infantry, the Marine Corps has thrown away all Marine armor and made grievous cuts to tubed artillery. While there are minimal signs that the Marine Corps will lessen some of the planned cuts to cannon artillery, the Marine Corps is doing nothing to restore armor, and very little to enhance and upgrade cannon artillery.
That is not what other nations are doing. Several years ago the British turned over its entire inventory of AS90 155 self-propelled howitzers.
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The AS90 (Artillery System for the 1990s) is a 155mm self-propelled howitzer developed by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering and introduced into British Army service in 1992. Designed to deliver precise, high-volume fire support for mechanized and armored formations, the AS90 became a cornerstone of British land artillery operations for over 30 years. It was heavily deployed during the 2003 Iraq War and played a prominent role in NATO exercises across Europe. Although its firing range of 25km with conventional ammunition placed it behind more modern systems in Western arsenals, its reliability and adaptability preserved its relevance well into the 2020s.
. . . Ukraine is expected to integrate the AS90 into its artillery network to reinforce medium-range fire support, particularly in positional warfare where accurate and sustained bombardment is crucial.
— Army Recognition
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With its entire stock of 155 self-propelled howitzers transferred to Ukraine, it gave the British the opportunity to say goodbye to the 155 and instead replace it with missiles, perhaps something like the US Marine NMESIS system.
What did the British decided to do?
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LONDON, May 13 (Reuters) - Britain said on Wednesday it will spend 1 billion pounds ($1.35 billion) buying its army 72 remote controlled RCH 155 howitzers, an artillery gun mounted on a vehicle, as part of a modernisation plan which will support over 500 jobs.
• UK has a gap in its war-fighting capability after handing its previous fleet of artillery systems, AS90s, to Ukraine in recent years. The RCH 155s will fill that gap.
-- Reuters
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The British are not the only US ally adding more 155 artillery. Israel is fielding the Roem/Sigma.
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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have officially fielded the Roem/Sigma self-propelled howitzer after a series of successful tests. This new artillery system, developed by Elbit Systems, is touted as the world’s first fully automatic artillery and is intended to replace hundreds of M109 howitzers currently in service with the Israeli Artillery Corps.
. . . The Roem/Sigma is a 155mm/52 caliber artillery piece mounted on a modified Oshkosh 10×10 military truck chassis.
— Defense News,
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A French artillery demonstration in 2025 once again proved the enduring power and usefulness of tubed artillery. The demonstration was hit by heavy rains. Tubed artillery units kept firing in the rain and winds while drones were grounded.
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A recent French Army artillery demonstration at Camp de Canjuers illustrated the vulnerabilities inherent in contemporary military operations—particularly how adverse weather can impact combat capabilities. While artillery units remained operational despite heavy rain, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) faced grounding due to poor visibility and storm conditions.
. . . The 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment is at the forefront of adapting artillery capabilities to a drone-centric battlefield, employing mobile 20mm guns, defensive nets, decoys, and electronic jamming devices to safeguard their howitzer and mortar units. Lt. Col. Renaud Durbecq, the Regiment’s operations and training chief, emphasized the renewed significance of artillery, noting that their systems enable strikes beyond the operational range of most drones.
Key Points:
-- Artillery guns like the Caesar 155mm howitzer remain crucial for long-range engagements.
-- Efforts to enhance drone acquisition and operational integration are rapidly advancing. For instance, the regiment has quintupled its drone inventory, tripled its number of operators, and doubled flight time within the span of a year.
-- Defcros News
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For 250 years the Nation has called on Marine infantry.
Marine infantry always needs support from air, armor, and artillery.
Missiles, drones, and precision munitions of all kinds bring new capabilities to the battlefield. Like foreign military services around the globe, the US Marine Corps should adopt new technologies to add to combined arms capabilities — not subtract from them.
One of the missions that combined arms US Marines can undertake that special operators are neither trained nor equipped to perform is to use combined arms to attack or defend against a substantial and well armed adversary. Not every mission is about getting in and getting out. Sometimes it is necessary to stand and fight.
The Marine Corps should upgrade and enhance the crucial combined arms triad of air, armor, and artillery. There is no new technology, now or in the future, that will eliminate the need to provide combined arms support. With enough combined arms support, the US Marines, those first-to-fight, devil dogs, will continue to advance around the globe, confronting the enemies of the US, and accomplishing the impossible.
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Army Recognition - 05/06/2025
UK confirms final withdrawal of AS90 artillery as entire fleet transferred to Ukraine.
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Reuters / AOL - 05/13/2026
UK to spend $1.35 billion on new howitzers for the British Army
https://www.aol.com/news/uk-spend-1-35-billion-213233116.html
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Defcros News - 10/31/2025
French Artillery Unit Demonstrates Lessons Learned from the Ukraine Conflict in Challenging Weather Conditions
https://news.defcros.com/french-artillery-unit-demonstrates-lessons/
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During Desert Storm, as a Marine M1A1 tanker, I remember hearing Iraqi artillery in the distance in the direction of our movement. It was pitch black so we could see faint light from firing some distance away and hear impacts somewhere in the night. Sit rep back to 8th Marines (and likely from Marine scouts and infantry as well) and a “roger out” from 8th Marines. About two minutes later, to our rear we saw and heard staccato reports of artillery from sea to shining sea. About a minute or so later, to our front and several miles ahead of us, the horizon turned daylight, guessing it was a regiment of counter battery fire, then nothing. It was the last we saw of Iraqi artillery during movement toward our objective. Infantry and armor in contact want as much arty as they can get. DS is best, but timely and accurate “regiment two rounds” in the middle of the night is unlike anything I had ever experienced before or after. Wow…..and thank you Marine cannon cockers.
I think the trick is how fast you can fire and move. Keeping the tube artillery helo mobile may now be less important. The Brits new system probably weighs 38 tonnes and needs a C-17. I think Cesar fits a C-130.