According to FFI, the Ukrainian battlefield experience reinforced Norway’s decision to prioritize artillery systems capable of achieving more than 40 kilometers in range and better survivability, and led to a reassessment of ammunition acquisition strategy, favoring volume and cost-effective accuracy improvements over limited high-cost precision rounds. The evaluation judged the acquisition to be economically sound and aligned with modern operational requirements, despite noting that long-term viability would depend on integrated force protection and continued ammunition procurement.

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The K9 VIDAR is a Norwegian variant of the South Korean K9 Thunder, configured to meet national requirements. It is equipped with a 155 mm L52 gun and designed for indirect fire support at ranges exceeding 40 kilometers. The platform is powered by a 1,000-horsepower MTU diesel engine and has a maximum speed of 67 km/h. With a five-person crew, the system measures 12 meters in length, 3.4 meters in width, and 3.5 meters in height, and weighs approximately 48 tons.

It features a rate of fire of up to eight rounds per minute and a burst capacity of three rounds in 15 seconds. It can relocate within 30 to 60 seconds between firing positions, reducing exposure to counter-battery fire. The hydropneumatic suspension minimizes shock and enables stable operation across diverse terrain and weather conditions. Norwegian trials confirmed the system’s ability to fire Nammo’s 155 mm IM HE-ER rounds to a range of 43.6 kilometers. A maximum range of 54 kilometers has been reached under test conditions. The K9 VIDAR is compatible with the BONUS 155 mm sensor-fused top-attack munition and is expected to integrate future ramjet-assisted rounds with ranges up to 100 kilometers.

Due to South Korean arms exports limitations it is highly unlikely the K9 will see service in defense of Ukraine, but I think it is important to keep providing simple but direct evidence of my arguments about the general media’s lack of recognition of how important 155mm artillery systems are in comparison to the more flashy drones and missiles that strangle the imaginations of people.

Patriot missiles are a major thing for Ukraine, but 155mm shells don’t need to wait around to swat down Putin’s war effort, they actively leap into the sky, seek out the Russian war effort and apply themselves to stopping it with vigor.

South Korea is looking at the war in Ukraine and concluding that armored 155mm artillery is essential for their defense, and so is Norway. Two different countries each facing the realistic medium term prospect of an armored fullscale land war from different countries are both looking at Ukraine and concluding they need more of what Ukraine has in the 155mm department (well, Ukraine has the M109 and other 155mm artillery systems including the domestically produced Bohdana in towed and armored wheeled self propelled variants not the K9 but you get my point).

I will repeat the calculus for this war right now is brutally simple, Ukraine has a superior towed and self propelled 155mm artillery gun production domestically, it has domestic production capacity for 155mm shells and the international community has recently consolidated around ensuring Ukraine will continue to have that capacity both in cannons and ammunition for said cannons. At every level Ukraine’s approach to applying artillery fire is more integrated in a dynamic combined arms sense than Russia’s which is dependent on more structured doctrine and higher volumes of artillery shells available to fire (which Russia can no longer count on having access to), and finally Ukraine’s fire control systems for artillery derive from the M109 Paladin systems which is one of the most fearsome weapon systems on earth.

Also it hardly needs to be said but Ukraine has far superior UAV drone spotters for coordinating friendly artillery… by a long measure…

Most crucially though to the calculus of the war, Ukraine has invested in thorough counter-artillery capacity while simultaneously investing seriously in keeping its own highly trained artillery crew alive. The longer the artillery crews survive the more ruthless and lethal they become in terms of being able to decisively support friendly infantry and armor. Especially given the sophisticated digital fire control systems Ukraine is using in their artillery.

This coupled with the fact that Russia clearly cannot even defend its artillery adequately enough to make effective use of it spells disaster for Russia. This is how land warfare has always worked since gunpowder entered into the equation.

Do not believe the media blitz right now, it must be a very scary time to live in Ukraine (it is scary enough to watch from an international perspective), but the media blitz is happening to attempt to cover up that this is the last serious chance Putin has to make decisive progress in the war in Ukraine and that window just slammed on Putin’s fingers. The window slamming in this metaphor being the production graph for towed and armored self propelled 155mm artillery and ammunition for/in Ukraine. Compare what Ukraine states now for Bohdana production vs. a year ago, the difference cannot be expressed in words adequately in terms of battlefield impact.

Now the international powers that be are more interested in entering into weapons contracts with Ukraine than they are “stepping back and letting Russia continue the war” (i.e. selling vital electronics components to Russia for their fighterbomber jets?) and the longer Russia continues the war the more they underline how international powers stand far more to gain by working with Ukraine and gaining access to their advanced technology and innovative tactics than they do partnering with Russia and gaining access to outdated equipment, doctrine and armored vehicles that simply cannot protect their crews and passengers period.