CAESAR
The French wheeled 155 mm howitzer — shoot-and-scoot survivability that kept it in the counter-battery fight where towed guns could not live.
Record
Operators
Ukraine: donated from spring 2022; follow-on batches funded through a French-led coalition
Battlefield role
Long-range precision fires and counter-battery work — a howitzer built around displacement speed in an artillery duel increasingly decided by drones.
Strengths
52-calibre barrel gives reach beyond most Russian tube artillery; firing and displacing in under a minute makes counter-battery kills rare; NATO 155 mm ammunition compatibility including precision rounds.
Limitations
The French 6×6 version's soft cab offers minimal protection if caught; barrel wear under wartime firing rates demands a rear-area maintenance pipeline abroad; the drone-saturated front forces constant dispersal and concealment discipline.
Visual identification
Truck chassis (6×6 French, 8×8 Danish) with a long 155 mm barrel carried over the cab when travelling; open rear working platform with a large hydraulic recoil spade; no turret.
Documented conflict use
In documented Ukrainian service since spring 2022 across the front; publicly credited in the counter-battery campaign, with documented losses low relative to towed systems. Deliveries expanded through the French-led artillery coalition from 2024.
Branch & service operators
- Ground ForcesDocumented