British Army personnel from the 19th Regiment Royal Artillery, known as the Scottish Gunners, have showcased their modernised artillery capabilities during Exercise Dynamic Front in Finland, according to a press release.
Set against the snowy backdrop of Lapland’s Rovajarvi training area, the exercise marked the first tactical deployment of the Army’s new Archer 155mm artillery system.
The week-long event brought together over 5,000 troops from 28 NATO countries, collaborating on joint live-fire exercises.
Major David Mortimer, Second in Command of 19th Regiment Royal Artillery, emphasised the significance of this deployment. “This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase our modernised artillery capability in front of all our NATO partners,” he said. The Archer, along with the newly deployed Taipan weapon-locating radar system, demonstrated advanced find-and-strike capabilities.
The Taipan and Archer systems aim to enhance the Army’s lethality by reducing the time between target acquisition and engagement. Major Mortimer explained, “This reduces the kill chain, therefore increasing our lethality within our find-and-strike system.”
The exercise also tested personnel against extreme Arctic conditions, with temperatures dropping to minus 15 degrees Celsius. The Scottish Gunners, supported by Arctic warfare instructors and equipped with specialised cold-weather gear, underwent rigorous preparation, including cold-weather operator courses and snow and ice driver training.
“It was quite a culture shock to a lot of our personnel to be up here in such testing conditions,” said Major Mortimer.
“The future is about firing smart munitions, which increases our lethality,” added Major Mortimer.
The Archer’s rapid introduction followed the transfer of 32 AS90 self-propelled guns to Ukraine.
“Our first train-the-trainer instructors were deployed to Sweden in late 2023,” said Mortimer. “It’s incredible that we’re now ready to put this equipment into use so quickly.”
The exercise, hosted by Finland for the first time since joining NATO in 2023, reflects the alliance’s commitment to enhancing collective defence and readiness. “We are stronger together and work to our common values and goals,” concluded Lieutenant-Colonel Faivre.
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This must be fake news. I read in the comments section of UKDJ that the UK has no army and can’t fight in Eastern Europe. I have been assured repeatedly that the Russia army is amazing and would role over our measly forces (that don’t even have ammunition) in a few minutes. 😀
no far off true,
Jim.
The British Army has 2 Batteries of 155mm equipment.
Two.
This, even if temporary, replaces SIX Regiments worth of AS90 SPG.
The result of a period between 97 and 2010 when EVERY program started by the RA was cancelled.
The result of the chopping of 4 of those 6 Regiments from about 2007,2008 onwards in defence cuts, and “replacement” with Light Gun, or, more recently, with MLRS.
The result of the need for politicians to show urgency in helping Ukraine, so a good dose of grandstanding, “look what we are doing”, an urgency they lacked for years in “helping” their own army’s artillery arm.
Even with the most positive of spin, this situation is unacceptable for an army of the stature of the British Army.
Why did we not just buy more Archer FH77? not as in all the Arty has Archer but may be a full Regts worth. rather than wait until the end of time for RCH 155mm? 14 is feeble. Mind you does not matter what we buy, we might struggle to man/women/them/they them and have enough ammo for more than a week.
Women them lol love it , man them is the correct term Mann being the proto germanic word for “people” but I did find that funny so thankyou I’m sat very sick and needed to laugh lol
119 RCH 155mm to be delivered to British Army by 2030 – hardly ‘end of time’.
As for ammo, BAE plans to be churning out 1.5million artillery shells per annum from its Washington plant alone by end of 2026.
That 119 is still being quoted and I doubt it’s accuracy.
That figure came from the original requirement when up to 4 Regiments worth would be so equipped.
Only 2 of those Regiments remain in role.
I have not seen it reaffirmed in any official statement or even a re announcement, so beloved of spin politicians.
So I would be very pleasantly surprised and it would indicatea considerable reorg of the RA from its current form.
I think it was what was readily avaliable. It’s a stop gap.
Archer was suppose to be a stop gap until UK bought Team Thunder the K9. K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzer. Apparently no one from UK even turned up to visit Hanwha Defense or even assess the K9 We where suppose to do the following : The Team Thunder partnership is established with one eye on the export market with
the potential for the UK to become a regional hub within the global supply chain of the
2,400 K9 family vehicles, including K10 ammunition resupply vehicles.” Which would have been the way to go. However Sunak went over to Germany and thought of a cheap option RCH RCH 155 (Remote Controlled Howitzer 155 mm) is a wheeled self-propelled and then decided to get 116 in Number which really up set the Swedes
Archer was a stop-gap until a permanent solution was selected, the K9 Thunder was only one of the available purchase options.
The selection of RCH 155mm makes sense in terms of the British Army already buying over 600 Boxers.
As for a regional hub for K9, Poland was always by far the stronger candidate, ordering over 350 complete K9s, and a further 96 chassis being built in Poland under licence.
Even for this website Martin, you’re a tiresome cynic.