- Ukraine was recorded using a Swedish Archer system for the first time in combat, per OSINTtechnical.
- The Archer can fire more than 8 rounds a minute and hit targets 31 miles away, it said.
- Sweden has delivered eight of them to Ukraine, the country’s defense minister said last month.
A new video shows Ukrainian troops using a Swedish-supplied Archer artillery system for the first time in Ukraine.
Sweden has delivered eight Archer systems to Ukraine, the country’s defense minister, Pål Jonson, said last month, according to the Swedish state broadcaster SVT.
The artillery system can fire more than eight rounds a minute, with a range of over 31 miles, using US extended-range GPS-guided M982 Excalibur shells, according to OSINTtechnical, an X account run by an analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses.
This is the first footage of its use by a Ukrainian army unit, the analyst said.
Ukrainian forces are now using the self-propelled howitzer artillery system near the front against Russian forces, according to SVT.
The report failed to specify where, when, or which unit is using it.
About 100 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained to use the Archer, Stephan Sjöberg, commander of the Swedish Boden Artillery Regiment (A8), told SVT in November.
Sweden is also looking at sending JAS39 Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine, Swedish public radio reported in September.
The powerful and highly capable aircraft could provide Ukraine’s air force with a much-needed boost, as Business Insider’s Jake Epstein previously reported.
The deliveries of Swedish Archer systems come as Ukraine is reportedly running out of shell ammunition, a defining element in frontline combat, and as Republicans in Congress threaten to withhold further aid.
Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said that Congress’ delay in providing aid to Ukraine will “very likely make it impossible to continue liberating territory and create a high risk of losing the war,” per The New Voice of Ukraine.
