The Ukrainian Armed Forces received eight Archers—wheeled self-propelled artillery systems—from Sweden.
This was stated by Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson.
Thus, he officially confirmed the arrival of these weapons in Ukraine.
Self-propelled guns were transferred within the framework of military assistance, which is necessary to resist the Russian invasion and Ukrainian territory de-occupation.
According to Jonson, Archer self-propelled artillery installations are important for Ukrainians since such systems have good mobility and accuracy.
The Swedish government decided to transfer the Archer self-propelled guns to Ukraine in January 2023. Eight such artillery systems were supplied to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Recall that the Ukrainian military has shown one of the transferred Swedish Archers in the video dedicated to the Day of Missile Forces and Artillery on Friday, November 3.
Swedish self-propelled guns entered service with the 45th Artillery Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They are equipped with special Barracuda camouflage, but they do not have a remotely controlled machine gun turret.
Judging by the photo, the Archer self-propelled guns are already on the front line and performing combat missions.
Archer
The Archer ACS is a Swedish 155mm self-propelled artillery gun developed by BAE Systems Bofors. Deliveries of this equipment to the Swedish army began only in 2013.
The artillery system of the self-propelled gun is fully automated, its base is a FH 77B 155mm gun with a 55-caliber barrel length. The autoloader allows it to make a maximum of 8-9 shots per minute. The maximum range of fire is 30 km with a conventional projectile (HE), 40 km with a rocket-assisted projectile (HE ER), and 60 km with an Excalibur projectile.
The self-propelled gun is built on a modified Volvo A30D truck chassis with a wheel arrangement of 6×6. Its combat and engine compartments are armored, and the cabin is protected from bullets from small arms and light debris.