The real strategic material in the Russia-Ukraine war is gun barrels. After firing 3,000 shells, a gun barrel may need to be scrapped. The precision of gun barrels has a significant impact on artillery accuracy.
Even when attacking the same target from the same location, due to differences in gun barrels, accuracy can vary by up to 200 meters. The machining precision of gun barrels directly affects the dispersion effect of shells. The quality of the gun barrel, fire control system, shell manufacturing precision, and well-trained soldiers are the four key factors for artillery accuracy.
Now, 90% of the 155mm howitzer gun barrels produced by France have already been given to Ukraine, but it still cannot fill this bottomless pit.
In the Russia-Ukraine battlefield, both sides need at least 10-20 new gun barrels per day, which means 300-600 gun barrels per month. The price of a gun barrel for an M777 towed howitzer starts at $700,000.
The manufacturing of modern artillery gun barrels is very difficult. There are only a few countries in the world that can produce qualified gun barrels for 152mm and 155mm artillery. Even the countries that can produce gun barrel blanks are few. For example, India has always struggled to stably produce qualified heavy artillery gun barrels.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1830181857127428/
Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author alone.