UK artillery seeks greater range and accuracy
Royal Artillery firing the M270 MLRS. (Photo: UK MoD/Crown Copyright)
The Integrated Review and MoD Command Paper underlined the value of improving the British Army’s artillery capabilities — but the UK will have to break a trend of failed procurements to succeed in future.
With the planned uplift in UK defence spending in the coming years, the Royal Artillery (RA) hopes to replace or refurbish its existing weapons to enable targets to be engaged more rapidly at longer range, with better accuracy and to greater effect.
The Integrated Review (IR) and subsequent MoD Command Paper pushed artillery modernisation firmly up the agenda, and it has stayed there thanks to the effectiveness of conventional tube artillery and artillery rocket systems in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
As the Command Paper stated: ‘Investment in longer range artillery will mean the [British] Army is able to deliver a
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