The IDF and the Ukrainian Armed Forces have approximately the same number of “NATO” caliber guns.
Recently it became known that the United States will transfer to Israel 155-mm artillery shells that were intended for Ukraine. But in fact, it is too early to talk about fierce competition between the IDF and the Ukrainian Armed Forces for American ammunition, writes Defense Express .
The publication notes that the Israel Defense Forces are armed with 250 155-caliber guns and several hundred more in storage. The Ukrainian Armed Forces now have about 300 of these guns. But the calculations do not end there, and a number of other factors must be taken into account.
First, the case regarding the supply of 155mm ammunition to Israel involves the return of shells that belong to the US Army and were stored in Israel until last winter, but were taken away for the needs of Ukraine. Now Israel is asking to return several “tens of thousands” of the 300 thousand that were there to its warehouses. Moreover, this does not mean that the shells will immediately be used: this is a strategic reserve that the Israeli army can use if it does not have enough of its own reserves.
Secondly, and this is important, in contrast to Ukrainian realities, in the Israeli army the main striking force is aviation, not artillery. Although this, of course, does not mean that Israeli artillery will remain silent if a ground invasion of Gaza begins.
As Defense Express notes, the pace and timing of the active ground phase will play a significant role here – the longer and more intense it is, the greater the need for ammunition will be. And the need for artillery will increase significantly if a full-fledged confrontation also begins with Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon.
“Under this negative scenario, both stocks and current production of 155-mm shells will be distributed between Ukraine and Israel. Moreover, the increase in demand for 155-mm shells will certainly drive up their cost, which will also become a negative factor. At the same time, relatively shells for the IDF at the expense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, then in general the situation does not look so critical, because exactly what Israel is not interested in is a long operation,” the publication emphasizes.
Israel’s war against Hamas – latest news
As UNIAN wrote, almost two weeks have passed since the terrible Hamas attack on Israeli settlements bordering Gaza, but the Israeli army has not yet launched a ground operation, which is now being actively discussed throughout the world .
But all this time, constant air strikes by the Israeli army against Hamas targets in Gaza continue . The scale and intensity of these attacks is such that every third residential building in Gaza has already been damaged, with thousands of civilian casualties reported.
Source : Unian
