The US Army deploys M992 FAASVs on a one-to-one ratio with the M109 howitzers they support. (Photo: BAE Systems)
Keeping the guns firing – the challenges of frontline artillery ammunition supply
While a lot has been written about the vast amounts of artillery ammunition Ukraine is using during its ongoing conflict with Russia, little attention has been paid to the practical task of keeping these weapons supplied with ammunition.
Compared with just 12 months ago, many countries in the West have now increased their ammunition production capability, especially for 155mm, by installing additional lines or operating more shifts... Continues below
This analysis article originally appeared in August's Decisive Edge Land Warfare Newsletter.
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But this is just one piece of the puzzle. Once the ammunition arrives in Ukraine (usually overland via Poland) it has to be passed through rear areas to frontline units.
Some ammunition comes in boxes but 155mm projectiles are normally packed on a pallet or frame-type container.
The propellant, whether an old bag type or the more recent modular charge system (MCS), and fuze are supplied separately. As with ammunition there are many different types, often coming from a different source.
The ammunition can be delivered direct to the towed or self-propelled (SP) artillery system that will fire it, or stockpiled on the ground near where the artillery is expected to be deployed.
The former option allows the weapon to always have a full load, but some of the wheeled SP systems used by Ukraine tend to keep no rounds on board in case they are hit by Russian artillery or UAV strikes and use ammunition already pre-positioned on the ground.
A few countries, including South Korea, Turkey and the USA have developed ammunition resupply platforms that can feed new rounds directly, without the crew leaving the vehicle.
These are usually based on the same type of chassis as the SP gun, allowing for identical levels of mobility and protection plus common logistics.
The US Army has for many years operated a dedicated resupply vehicle for use with M109-series 155mm/39cal SP artillery systems, the M992 Field Artillery Ammunition Support Vehicle (FAASV).
Hanwha’s K10 ARV can transfer 96 rounds to a K9 Thunder SPH over three times as fast as when a conventional truck is used. (Photo: Hanwha)
This was originally developed by BMY Combat Systems as a private venture called the Ammunition Delivery System and is normally issued on the scale of one per M109.
The FAASV is based on the same chassis but has a raised compartment at the rear which typically carries 90x155mm projectiles, 96 complete MCS and 104 fuzes. These are fed into the rear of the M109 via a conveyor belt.
Under contract to the US Army, BAE Systems is now upgrading part of the M992 fleet to the M992A3 Carrier Ammunition Tracked (CAT) build standard.
The latest contract was valued at $493 million and placed in early August with production to run from August 2025 to July 2026.
Export sales of the FAASV have been made to a number of countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Thailand.
The large internal volume of the M992 means that it suitable for a range of other battlefield missions such as command post or fire direction centre, and these are deployed by Egypt, Greece and Taiwan.
South Korea meanwhile has fielded large numbers of the locally developed K9 Thunder 155mm system and has developed the K10 Ammunition Resupply Vehicle (ARV) to accompany it. This carries a total of 104x155mm projectiles and 504 MCS and is operated by a crew of three.
It has also been ordered by other countries including Australia (designated AS10) and Norway with the latest being Romania who signed a contract for 54 K9s plus 36 ARVs in July.
According to Hanwha, trials have shown that 48x155mm rounds can be loaded into the K9 from a K10 in under 18 minutes which compares well with an unprotected truck which takes some 67 minutes to transfer the same number of projectiles.
Turkey has followed a similar route. Its Firtina 155mm tracked SP system is essentially a local version of the K9, and a resupply vehicle has been developed for it and deployed. The latest designation for this is the Poyraz ARV and they are issued on the scale of one per three Firtinas.
Turkey has a long tradition of modifying older platforms for new battlefield missions – the Poyraz uses components from decommissioned M48 tanks and is in many respects similar to the US Army’s FAASV with a gross vehicle weight of 50t.
It also has a raised compartment at the rear and carries a total of 96x155mm projectiles and charges which are fed to the Firtina via a telescopic arm. Projectile transfer is automatic while charge transfer is said to be semi-automatic.
Not everyone goes down this route. In the UK, VSEL did propose an ammunition resupply system based on its AS90 SP howitzer developed for the Royal Artillery, but this was not taken up., while the BAE Systems Bofors Archer 155mm system deployed by the Swedish Army is resupplied by a container mounted on the rear of an 8x8 truck chassis.
Other countries such as Israel use the unarmoured M548 tracked carrier to support M109-series howitzers and these have been deployed during the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Towed artillery systems normally use unprotected trucks to carry the crews and a quantity of ready-use ammunition, but some countries are moving to an all-SP artillery fleet as these are more survivable.
As ever, it is a trade-off between capability, survivability, practicality and cost. For some armies, procuring more actual howitzers at the expense of bespoke ARVs when regular trucks can do the job well enough in many circumstances may still make the most sense.
