The Russian military continues to hunt down Kiev forces’ new M109 self-propelled 155 mm howitzers with loitering munitions. On February 14 and 15, videos documenting strikes on two Ukrainian M109 howitzers in the special military zone surfaced online. The first howitzer was targeted with a KUB-BLA loitering munition, while the second was targeted with the more capable Lancet.
Both the KUB-BLA and Lancet were developed by the ZALA Aero Group, a subsidiary of Russian defense giant Kalashnikov.
The KUB-BLA, which is equipped with a GLONASS-aided inertial navigation system, has an endurance of 30 minutes. On the other hand, the basic version of the Lancet has an endurance of up to 40 minutes. The loitering munition is also equipped with an electro-optical targeting system.
Kiev forces have received at least 50 M109-type howitzers from its allies since the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine.
In May 2022, Norway donated 22 M109A3GNs to Ukraine. In June, the United Kingdom purchased 22 ex-Belgium M109A4s and later supplied them to Kiev forces. Later in August, Latvia provided six M109A5Ös. The older A1-A4 versions of the M109 have a maximum range of 18 kilometers with regular rounds, while the newer A5-A7 versions have a firing range of more than 21 kilometers with regular rounds and can fire M982 Excalibur precision-guided rounds with a range of 40 kilometers. The howitzer has a rate of fire of one round per minute.
More M109-type howitzers will be delivered to Ukraine in the near future. Early on in January, the United States pledged to provide Kiev forces with 18 of the howitzer’s latest version, the M109A6 Paladin.
Many of Ukraine’s new M109-type howitzers have been already damaged or destroyed by the Russian military, mainly with loitering munitions.