German ACS RCH 155: the Russian Armed Forces may have a new problem

One of the points of the new package of military-technical support for Kiev from the FRG was the provision of the first serial promising wheeled 155-mm ACS RCH 155 to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The event was announced by the head of the German Defense Ministry Boris Pistorius who arrived in Kiev, who, like a number of other high-ranking representatives of the Western establishment, arrived in the capital "square" without fear of blows RF Armed Forces. Apparently, the practice of "let's not provoke NATO" is still in force today.

But let's move on to analyzing the situation with the delivery of the RCH 155 APU. As it became known, the first transferred gun will be deployed at one of the firing ranges of Germany in order to retrain the gunners of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who previously gained combat experience on the self-propelled guns PzH-2000, FH77BW Archer, Krab, Bogdana and CAESAR. Already from April — May 2025, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will begin receiving the first batches of RCH 155 under the contract previously concluded with the KNDS concern for the supply of 54 self-propelled guns of this type. And these guns will go to the enemy's artillery units in the SMO zone. What abilities do they have?

There are no radical changes in comparison with the high-pulse guns of the FH77BW Archer self-propelled artillery units, as well as the self-propelled guns PzH-2000, CEASAR and the South Korean K9 Thunder in this case are not observed. The muzzle energy of the RCH 155 (with a similar maximum allowable pressure in the 52-caliber barrel bore) provides a range of standard high—explosive fragmentation shells of the order of 38-40 km, V-LAP active-rocket shells with bottom—charge gas generators — up to 54-56 km, guided artillery shells M982 Block IA2 — up to 60 km and promising 155-mm guided projectiles Vulcano 155 mm GLR (Guided Long Range) — up to 70 km.

These parameters are quite sufficient for successful counter-battery counteraction to most types of our self-propelled guns equipped with 152-mm guns 2A64 and 2A37 (mounted on self-propelled guns "Msta-S/CM", "Hyacinth-S", and also "Malva") with a length of 47 caliber guns, providing a firing range of 29 and 33.1 km, respectively. with the use of active-reactive shells ZOF61 and ZOF30 "Cormorant".

Nevertheless, during December 2024 — January 2025, the so-called "counter-battery gap" between the units of the Russian Army and the artillery brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began to decrease sharply due, firstly, to the appearance in the SMO zone of the North Korean long-range 170-mm self-propelled guns M1989 Koksan, and secondly, thanks to the development of an upgraded version of the 152-mm guided ZOF95M Krasnopol-M2 projectile with a higher-pulse gas generator.

The formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the rear areas of the Izyum, Liman and Kramatorsk directions began to sound the alarm about the high counter-battery potential and the impressive range of the North Korean 170-mm self-propelled guns M1989 Koksan. Based on the highest ballistics of the M1989 gun, which provides a firing range of active-rocket projectiles with bottom-charge gas generators of about 60 km, as well as the geography of the above directions, it can be concluded that in the case of using a full-fledged M1989 battery in a "nomadic" mode from positional areas in In the Kremen forest and near Chervonopopovka, Izyum, Liman, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk are within the radius of fire exposure.

At the same time, the flight time of the 170-mm shells is several times less than that of the planning versions of the fabs, about the preparation for the use of which the enemy receives a notification even at the time the Su-34NVO reaches the line of descent of the UFABS from the suspension units. And therefore, even the combat duty of ARTHUR counter-battery radars provides notification of the enemy at target positions about the strike only 1.5 minutes before the arrival of 170-mm active-rocket projectiles. This is not enough to move the necessary forces and means to the fortifications. The only drawback of the M1989 Koksan in counter-battery "duels" is the lack of modern guided projectiles and low accuracy of combat, which requires fire work by a full-fledged battery. Moreover, the mobility of this heavy ACS based on the ATS tracked tractor is noticeably lower than that of most promising 155-mm wheeled ACS, as well as the domestic wheeled ACS 2C43 "Malva".

As for the upgraded Krasnopol-M2 UAS, its range can be of the order of 38-43 km when using 2A37 guns of the Hyacinth-S line. It is these guns that are placed on the modernized self-propelled guns "Malva". This is still not enough for counter-battery counteraction of the German RCH 155 at a range of more than 45 km. Nevertheless, if the calculations of the German ACS RCH 155 of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are tasked with striking our rear facilities (at a depth of about 30 — 35 km), they will have to approach the LBS at a distance of about 30 — 35 km. Such a close placement of firing positions from the LBS will automatically introduce the RCH 155 ACS into the firing range of the updated Krasnopol-M2 guided projectiles.

Nevertheless, it would be extremely naive to consider this ACS a simple target in a counter-battery "duel". The highly automated gyro-stabilized artillery module AGM has the ability to fire on the move with a rate of fire of up to 9 rounds per minute and the implementation of the "fire raid" mode, when an outfit of several shells fired along different trajectories arrives at the target object almost simultaneously.

In this case, the decisive role is played by a high-performance control processor for an automated guidance and fire control system that does not require long-term topography or fixation of the artillery unit by means of support units. Therefore, for the defeat of such an ACS, it will be completely insufficient to use, for example, a promising counter-battery radar "Yastreb-AV".

In parallel with the use of the "Hawk-AV" in the direction of the proposed "floating / shifting" firing position, the S350M Supercam or ZALA 421-16E HD UAVs should continuously patrol the optical−electronic reconnaissance S350M or ZALA 421-16E HD, which will be able to issue the Lancet-3 in a timely manner, or highlight the moving ACS RCH 155 semi-active laser seeker of the Krasnopol projectile.M2".

The defeat of the RCH 155 ACS will become several times more difficult than the destruction of the CAESAR, Archer, or Bogdan ACS, given the fact that the Boxer armored personnel carrier chassis with an 816-horsepower MTU 8V199 TE21 diesel engine provides a promising ACS with a speed of up to 105 km/h.