The French Caesar and Swedish Archer are two of the best artillery guns the West has produced, and both of them are in use after being donated to Ukraine. These guns are masters of a tactic known as ‘shoot and scoot’, and as a result they survive better than any other gun in Ukraine’s arsenal. In fact, they’re so hard to find and destroy that Russia has described them as a ‘nightmare’ to fight against. But what is ‘shoot and scoot’ and why is so important? We went to see these guns in the field to find out.
Russia’s ‘Nightmare’ is Ukraine’s Two Best Artillery Guns | War on Tape | Daily Mail
#WarOnTape #Ukraine #Russia #RussiaWar
Russia’s ‘Nightmare’ is Ukraine’s Two Best Artillery Guns | War on Tape | Daily Mail
#WarOnTape #Ukraine #Russia #RussiaWar
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00What we're looking at here are the French Caesar and Swedish Archer artillery guns.
00:06Both of these are state-of-the-art howitzer systems,
00:09and both of them are fighting in Ukraine after being donated by the West.
00:13These guns are masters of a tactic called shoot and scoot,
00:16which is helping them survive better than any other artillery pieces in Ukraine's arsenal,
00:22while Russian troops have described them as a nightmare to fight against.
00:26But what exactly does shoot and scoot mean?
00:29What makes these two guns so good at it, and which of them is best?
00:35We're going to break down how the guns work, examine the tapes,
00:39travel to Finland to see them in action, and speak to their crews to find out.
00:44This is the Caesar, a very literal French acronym that means
00:48truck equipped with an artillery system, because that's basically what it is.
00:53The truck in question is a Renault Sherpa 5, which began life as a military transport.
00:59Engineers removed the truck bed and cover and replaced them with a 155mm howitzer,
01:06while keeping the six wheels and the driver's cab.
01:09This simple design makes the Caesar compact. It is just 30ft long and 8ft wide.
01:14It's fast, having a top speed of 50mph, and relatively cheap, around $4m each.
01:21It is also very light, just 18 tonnes, which means it can be taken into battle by helicopter.
01:28The Caesar carries up to 18 rounds of ammunition stored in two parts.
01:33Shells are kept in containers on this side of the vehicle,
01:35while explosive charges are in similar containers on the other side.
01:39And down here is a metal stabiliser which digs into the ground to stop
01:44the gun jumping backwards when it goes off.
01:46There are five crew in total.
01:49Two of them take the shells and load them into the auto-rammer,
01:52here, which rams them into the gun.
01:54Another two take the explosive charges, push them into the gun by hand,
01:58then close the block at the back of the gun ready for firing.
02:01The fifth crew member is the commander.
02:04He operates the fire control system, which is a computer,
02:07located here, and is responsible for locking the gun on target.
02:11Caesar can be operated by just three people, though it means the loaders have a lot more work to do.
02:17Once everything is ready, the crews stand back just in case anything goes wrong,
02:21and the commander uses a control on the end of a wire to open fire.
02:25Using a standard shell, the Caesar can hit a target up to 25 miles away.
02:31This version is known as the Caesar 6x6, six wheels with six-wheel drive.
02:36But there's also an 8x8 version used by Denmark and a few other militaries.
02:41The gun and crew are the same, but it's built on the back of a slightly different truck,
02:45with eight wheels and has two auto-rammers, one for shells and another for explosives.
02:52A skilled Caesar crew can set up, fire six shots, and be on the move again in under three minutes.
02:59If we take a look at this tape, we can see all of that in action.
03:03The crew of this 6x6 Caesar jump out of the cab
03:06and a commander starts programming the fire control system.
03:09At the same time, the shell loaders get a shell into the auto-rammer.
03:13Once the shell is in the gun, the charge loaders get the explosives in behind it.
03:17The commander then gives the order to fire.
03:20You can see here how the stabiliser stops the gun from leaping backwards.
03:24And you can also see an 8x8 Caesar driving past just here.
03:28If we swap tapes for a second, you can see the 8x8 gun firing.
03:32This view gives you a better idea of how the auto-rammers work.
03:35Again, the commander gives the order to open fire.
03:38With the mission complete, the crew loads back into the cab and drives off.
03:43Next up, we have the Archer.
03:45It was created by Sweden, but is also used by the British.
03:49Like the Caesar, it started life as a truck, a Volvo A3D dump truck,
03:54but it lost the dumper, which was replaced by another 155mm howitzer.
04:00The driver's cab was reinforced with extra armour and bulletproof glass,
04:04and an armoured cabin was placed around the base of the gun
04:07to contain the shells and explosives.
04:09It is shrouded in barracuda netting,
04:11which is woven with special fibres that confuse night vision and thermal cameras.
04:16And it has a weapon mount up here for a machine gun or grenade launcher
04:20that is operated from inside the cab.
04:23This makes the Archer longer, wider, and heavier than Caesar.
04:28It is also quite a lot more expensive.
04:31But it has several party tricks the Caesar doesn't.
04:34For example, loading the Archer takes a place away from battle.
04:38The crew, up to four people,
04:40use a specially designed truck to get the ammo into the armoured compartment.
04:45Shells go in this side, and explosive charges go in the other.
04:49Archer can carry up to 21 shells, three more than the Caesar.
04:53Once in battle, the crew stay put and simply program their target
04:57into the fire control system inside the cabin.
05:00The Archer digs two metal stabilisers into the ground
05:03to stop itself rolling backwards, elevates and extends the gun
05:07before locking on target, then opens fire.
05:10A new shell and explosive charge are loaded into the gun
05:13without the crew doing anything.
05:15And then the Archer is ready to fire again.
05:18All of that happens in double quick time.
05:20Archer can set up, fire six rounds,
05:23and then be on the way again in less than 80 seconds,
05:26compared to the Caesar's three minutes.
05:28And Archer can be operated by just one person, if needs be.
05:33But that's not all.
05:34Archer has a range of 30 miles with a standard shell,
05:37thanks to special explosive charges it uses, and a couple of fancy fire modes.
05:42One makes tiny trajectory adjustments between each shot,
05:46meaning all the shells will land on their target at the same time,
05:50despite being fired a few seconds apart.
05:52The cannon can also fire horizontally in an emergency,
05:56in case the gun is ambushed by tanks or armoured vehicles,
05:59while its top-mounted weapon takes out any infantry.
06:02All of which makes it very hard for the enemy to find,
06:05and even harder to destroy, if or when they eventually do.
06:09If we go back to the tape, we can see the Ukrainians putting that into action.
06:13Here's the crew loading into the vehicle and driving out on a mission.
06:16You can see the stabilisers deploying here.
06:18The gun locks on target and then opens fire.
06:21A moment later, the gun is packed away and moving to the next firing position.
06:26If we switch tapes, you can see that a little more clearly.
06:29The gun deploys, locks on, and opens fire in just 15 seconds.
06:34So, why is all of that such a big deal?
06:37To understand, we need to learn about how artillery is used in battle,
06:41and a tactic known as shoot and scoot.
06:44A typical artillery fire mission looks something like this.
06:47A spotter, in Ukraine this is usually a drone,
06:50tracks the enemy and reports their location to a command post.
06:53Commanders decide whether the target is worth hitting,
06:56and then task a unit with hitting it.
06:58If that unit is artillery, the crew will drive their gun within range,
07:02lock on to the position they were given,
07:04fire enough shells to hit the target, then pack up and drive off again.
07:08Provided enough shells are fired,
07:10artillery is extremely effective at destroying its targets.
07:14It is thought that 70% of all casualties in Ukraine are caused by it,
07:19and for that reason, it is known as the king of battle.
07:23But artillery also has another role called counter-battery fire,
07:27hunting down and destroying enemy guns to limit the horrendous damage they cause.
07:32A counter-battery mission is the mirror image of the fire mission we just saw.
07:36The friendly gun deploys and begins firing at its target,
07:39but this reveals its location to the enemy,
07:42so the enemy deploy their own gun to go and shoot back at it.
07:46But all of this takes time.
07:48If the friendly gun can pack up and move off
07:50before the enemy gun has time to open fire,
07:53then it lives to fight another day.
07:55That's what shoot and scoop means.
07:57Getting into battle, firing as many shells as quickly as possible,
08:01then packing up and getting away again before the enemy shoots back.
08:05And Caesar and Archer were designed to be the absolute masters of this tactic.
08:11If we get up close with the Archer, we can see all its features.
08:16You can see the armoured cabin at the front where the three crews sit.
08:20There's a weapon mount on the top that can be controlled from the inside.
08:24Here's the 155mm cannon.
08:29And here's how it deploys ready to shoot.
08:34You can see the armoured housing at the back of the gun
08:37with the ammo and autoloader inside.
08:41There's two feet just below that,
08:42which lower into position to support the gun as it shoots.
08:49You can see the tyres have been fitted with snow chains,
08:52allowing the Archer to move quickly over the frozen ground.
08:57And here's the Caesar up close and personal.
09:00Here's the ammo racks where the explosive charges are stored.
09:04In the background, you can see the cab has been covered in netting.
09:09This not only obscures it from view,
09:11but the netting also contains special fibres to block infrared cameras.
09:16Over here, you can see where the shells are stored
09:18and in the background, you can see the gun lowering into the transport position.
09:26You can see this Caesar has also been fitted with snow chains to tackle the frozen terrain.
09:32At the back of the gun, you can see the five-person crew discussing their mission.
09:44Here's the block that lowers into position when the gun is ready to fire.
09:49And here's the plough that digs into the ground to stop it jumping backwards.
09:54Sixty-seven Caesar guns were donated to Ukraine,
09:57and just seven have been lost, a little over 10%.
10:01And most of those were hit by drones, which can target them while they're on the move.
10:05For comparison, other Ukrainian artillery guns have a loss rate of around 30%.
10:11Just eight Archer have been donated to Ukraine, and none of those have been destroyed so far.
10:17One was hit by a drone, but it survived.
10:20This video shows how the drone damaged the rear ammo compartment,
10:24but that's nothing a few battlefield mechanics can't fix.
10:33It should come as no surprise then that the Russians described these guns
10:37as a nightmare to fight against, and very few of them have been destroyed.
10:41If we look at this footage from a NATO live-fire drill in Finland, we can understand why.
10:46This is the Caesar artillery piece.
10:49It is French-owned but has been donated to Ukraine and is being used to fight the Russians.
10:53Very similar to the Archer artillery piece.
11:02Firing at full range, it takes an artillery shell a little under a minute to hit its target.
11:07From the time this Caesar fires its first round,
11:15it takes a little under 30 seconds to get the second one away.
11:24Meaning the first shell is still in the air.
11:28In fact, it's not until the crew are loading the third shell that the first one even hits the target.
11:38Only now do the enemy realise they're being shot at.
11:44They may well scramble a spotter drone to look for the gun,
11:47but the Caesar crew is already packing down.
11:50By the time their own artillery has got the location and fired back,
11:55this crew will be on the move somewhere else.
11:59The Archer is even more impressive.
12:01Between the first shell being fired here,
12:08and the last shell being fired here,
12:14less than a minute has elapsed.
12:17And its clever fire mode means all these shells will land at the same time.
12:21Only now do the enemy know they're being shot at.
12:24And the Archer is already long gone.
12:27While in Finland, I spoke to the crews who actually operate these guns
12:31to find out what they think.
12:33First, we spoke with French artillery gunners operating the Caesar.
12:47Just like the Archer, the Caesar's party trick is its mobility.
12:58Its capacity to fire very quickly.
13:01And its capacity to move in many areas quickly.
13:07So we are very happy with the Caesar.
13:10To a firing mission, it used to be maybe two or three minutes.
13:15And in less than one minute,
13:18he keeps out the position to join a concealed position
13:24and waiting for another firing position.
13:27So the mobility is very fast.
13:29If you want to stay alive, you have to be mobile.
13:33Mobility is more important than ever because of the threat from drones.
13:37I think that drones have an impact of all the military layout,
13:42because not also artillery, but the PCs, the logistic area,
13:47everyone and everybody.
13:49I think the battlefield are concerned by drones.
13:53So for us, we have to insist on the manoeuvre.
13:58Less than on the firing mission, but more on the manoeuvre,
14:02because if you want to stay alive, you have to move very quickly.
14:08You have to stay concealed until you receive the firing mission.
14:12So to avoid drones threats, you have to be very mobile, I think.
14:18Next, I wanted to know how the gun operates in the field.
14:21I know the CZAR for many 15 years.
14:25And I was deployed with the CZAR in Malia, in Afghanistan.
14:29All right.
14:30So I know very well the system and I'm very proud of it.
14:33The best thing about the gun is it's quite a simple system.
14:36It's a quite simple system.
14:38Only five guys to use the CZAR
14:41and you can keep approximately,
14:45I think, 30 shells in an autonomous manner.
14:52And it can move very simply.
14:53So it's a quite easy system, I think.
14:56Last, I asked if he could compare the CZAR and the ARCHER.
15:00The ARCHER and the CZAR.
15:02I don't know the ARCHER.
15:05I'm not a specialist of the ARCHER.
15:08I know very well CZAR, but ARCHER not.
15:10OK, we'll go and ask the British about that.
15:12I want to be just.
15:13So that's exactly what we did.
15:16I'm Lieutenant Colonel Ben Baldwinson of the 19th Regiment Royal Artillery,
15:21the Scottish Gunners.
15:22This is the first live firing we've done with ARCHER.
15:25So ARCHER is our new 155 artillery gun.
15:28So we've bought it from the Swedish.
15:31We've had about, I'd say, about a year worth of dry training,
15:35converting our soldiers to drive, fight and operate the vehicle.
15:39And here's the first time we've actually had a chance to live fire it
15:42and really put it for its paces in some pretty testing climate.
15:45Next, I wanted to know about the ARCHER's shoot and scoot capabilities.
15:49So I think the potency of the gun is its ability to fire and move very quickly.
15:54So the power of that means it can be,
15:56if it is spotted, then it's fired and delivered its ordnance
16:00and then it's away and hard to then track and to acquire
16:03and then potentially be destroyed itself.
16:06In terms of its speed of fire,
16:08it can fire all of its magazine and its rounds in a couple of minutes.
16:12And so it puts a huge weight of fire.
16:13Now, if you extrapolate that,
16:15if you expand that across a number of guns,
16:17of a regiment of guns, 24 guns, for instance,
16:20then that is a colossal weight of fire that has lots of guns moving around
16:24and is very difficult for the enemy to one see and to hit.
16:28Just how quickly can the ARCHER deploy, fire and relocate?
16:32We've been getting quicker and quicker every day
16:34and we've been practising moving the ARCHER from a hide into a firing post,
16:39firing a salvo and then moving off.
16:42And we've got that down to seconds rather than minutes.
16:45It is impressive.
16:48It's been very easy to manoeuvre on this terrain.
16:50In fact, it's been outpacing some of our tracked vehicles that support it.
16:54And when it's firing, it's really impressive.
16:57The rate of fire is much faster.
16:59And what about the ARCHER's fancy fire modes?
17:02There's two impressive functions that the gun has.
17:04The first is it has a multi-target ability,
17:07which means we can programme the gun to go through a cycle of firing on several targets.
17:13Once it's programmed in the computer,
17:14it will just literally go from one target to the other.
17:16So it can fire virtually its whole magazine of 21 rounds
17:20on a number of targets once they're set in the computer.
17:22Something brand new for us.
17:24The other thing is the multi-round single impact mission,
17:27which it can fire a series of rounds at different trajectories
17:30so that they land at the same time.
17:32So the computer calculates the time of flight so that it hits the same point,
17:36which I can tell you from looking at the target end is pretty impressive.
17:39How does he think the ARCHER stacks up against the Caesar?
17:42So the ARCHER's strength is in its mobility and its ability to fire very quickly.
17:47We've also had a look at the Caesar, which is very similar.
17:50It is a different wheeled vehicle.
17:52It has a different loading mechanism.
17:54Probably its strength is in its simplicity.
17:57So its ability to fire and be fixed very quickly.
18:01Yeah, the ARCHER's crew survivability is excellent.
18:04So the cab itself is protected.
18:06It is air sealed and it has a climate control system.
18:10So in terms of not being nice and warm, as well as being protected, it's superb.
18:15And the gun itself is protected with armour.
18:18But the main potency of the gun is its ability to move very quickly,
18:22which gives it its own armour in itself
18:24because it doesn't stay in one place for very long.
18:26We can see that each of these guns have their advantages.
18:30The Caesar is simple, easy to use and transport and relatively cheap.
18:34They give their crews increased chance of survival over older Soviet kinds of artillery
18:38and there are lots of them available.
18:41Their only major downside is that they require five people to operate,
18:44but that can be reduced to three in a pinch.
18:47If I were a battalion commander or a general,
18:49I think the Caesar would be the gun I'd pick.
18:52It isn't perfect, but it helps keep my troops alive
18:55and can be supplied in large enough numbers to make a measurable impact.
18:59Its simplicity means it isn't going to be such a problem to supply or maintain either.
19:04The Archer, on the other hand, is clearly a more sophisticated system.
19:09It provides best-in-class protection to the crew
19:12and is almost impossible to find and destroy by traditional means.
19:16Even if you do manage to find and track one with new technology like a drone,
19:20a kill is not guaranteed.
19:23If I was an artillery gunner, then there's no doubt I'd want to use the Archer.
19:29But for the battlefield commander, there's drawbacks.
19:33First, there's not that many of them available, so they can't be deployed at scale.
19:37That's a problem on a front line as long as the one in Ukraine.
19:41Second, they require a specialist vehicle to load the ammo into that rear compartment,
19:46putting extra pressure on the logistics tail.
19:49And with all the complex electronics on board,
19:51it's a fair bet they're harder to maintain than the Caesar as well.
19:55They can be operated by just one crew, which is a huge advantage to Ukraine.
20:00But according to the British commander we spoke to,
20:02it takes around a year for the crew to become proficient, which is a long time.
20:07So while the Archer is undoubtedly the better gun in technical terms,
20:11if I were the Ukrainians, I think the Caesar would actually be top of my wish list.
20:17That's where this tape stops,
20:19but we'll be back soon to play you through another episode of War on Tape.
20:24Hey everyone, thanks for watching.
20:26If you want more videos like this in your feed,
20:29don't forget to hit the like and subscribe to our YouTube channel.