Researchers at the RAND Corporation came to the conclusion that the U.S. Army’s field artillery is inferior to Russian weapons.
This was reported by the American magazine National Interest.
The article states that since the early 2000s, the Pentagon has focused on fighting the rebels. During operations involving small units in Iraq and Afghanistan, planes and helicopters were used instead of artillery as the main source of fire support.
This resulted in less experience for U.S. gunners than before the 9/11 attack.
Expert John Gordon notes that as a result U.S. artillery has become less effective, while the effectiveness of Russian artillery has remained the same. Russia is armed with powerful howitzers, multiple rocket launchers and ballistic missiles.
At the same time, the Russian army can hit the enemy positions at a considerable distance using the Smerch multiple rocket launcher with a range of about 100 kilometers and Iskander missile system, which can shoot at about 400 kilometers when the U.S. 155-mm howitzer “Paladin” has a range of about 32 kilometers.