US now training Ukrainians on artillery. It's a big deal.

At a base in Poland about 100 miles from the Ukraine border American troops are preparing to launch a crash training programme for small units of Ukrainian military to help them operate the next delivery of battlefield weapons from the US and from pre-positioned stocks in Germany. In a matter of days a massive shipment of arms is due to arrive at the unidentified base, including 18 155mm towed howitzers with 40,000 artillery rounds, 14 counter-artillery radars, two Sentinel air defence radars, 200 armoured personnel carriers and 11 Russian-made Mi-17 Hip helicopters. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the Pentagon has supplied thousands of tons of arms but has carefully avoided referring to any clandestine training programme for the Ukrainian army. When President Biden visited Poland last month he mentioned that US troops were involved in training. The Pentagon quickly clarified his comment, denying there was any such programme but acknowledged there was a “liaison” arrangement with the Ukrainians, effectively guiding them through the operating manual for Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger anti-aircraft systems. However, with the imminent arrival of artillery and counter-battery radars, Pentagon officials have revealed for the first time that training will be necessary on these weapon systems. It’s a significant development in the American and Nato military support programme for Ukraine. “We do not believe that it’s going to take long for the little bit of training that’s going to be required on the howitzers, on the counter-artillery radar and the Sentinel air defence radar,” a senior US defence official said. “Those are three ones that are probably going to need some hands-on training,” the official said. The training programme in Poland, masterminded by General Tod Wolters, head of US European Command, is expected to take several days and will involve selected senior Ukrainian non-commissioned officers coming over the border for instruction. “General Wolters is very aggressively working out how we would provide a sort of ‘train the trainers’ approach to this so that we’re not pulling out of Ukraine an exorbitant number of fighters,” the official said. Those chosen for the training will already know how to operate radars and artillery but will need specific instruction on how to use the American systems. The Pentagon is keeping secret details of the howitzer being shipped to Poland, other than it firing a 155mm shell. However, it’s likely to be the M777 light artillery piece originally designed by the British company, BAe. It is manned by eight gunners and can fire a shell up to a range of 24 miles. About 5,000 American troops, mainly from 82nd Airborne Division and 18th Airborne Corps, are now based in Poland at Mielec, Nowa Deba and Rzeszow.