Source: Anatolii Stepanov (Reuters)
Artillery units of the Ukrainian Army are fielding two artillery pieces whose service debut occured during World War Two. The first is the M101A1 105mm howitzer which first entered service with the U.S. Army in 1941. Lithuania, Portugal, and Slovenia have provided Ukraine with a combined total of 43 M101A1 howitzers between 2022 and 2024. The second is shown in action here in service with the 152nd. Jäger Brigade, the M114A1 155mm howitzer. The M114A1 first saw service with the U.S. Army in 1942 and despite the age, 21 countries still use the M114A1 with Turkey and Greece maintaining the largest stocks. In fact, the M114A1 shown in the photograph is a former Hellenic Army weapon. In early 2024, Greece and the Czech Republic entered into an agreement where the Czech Republic would purchase 70 M114A1 howitzers which were surplus to the Hellenic Army's needs. Upon completion of the sale, Greece will deliver the M114A1s to Ukraine. From appearances, this sale has completed but how many of the purchase have been delivered to date is not known.
Captured by the cameraman in full recoil, the M114A1's barrel is 12.5 feet long and it uses a slow-cone, interrupted screw breech. This means that it takes two actions on the part of the gunner to open the breech rather then one action for a steep-cone type. The combat weight of the M114A1 is 5.6 tons and requires a crew of 11 men though operating the howitzer can be done with less crew if necessary. The M1A2 carriage is a split trail style and the gun mount permits a maximum barrel elevation of 63 degrees and in the right conditions, a maximum gun depression of 2 degrees. Traverse is limited to 25 degrees to the left and right of center. Elevation, depression, and traverse is all affected manually using cranks. Any additional traverse requires the entire howitzer to be repositioned. The only recoil reduction comes from the hydro-pneumatic mechanism as the M114A1 does not use a muzzle brake. The crew is provided with a minimal gun shield that offers a limited defense against some small arms fire and shell fragments.
Despite the breech type, a trained crew can run 4 rounds through the M114A1 during burst firing. A sustained fire rate is 1 round every minute but not exceeding 40 rounds per hour. As a comparison, the M777 155mm howitzer, which entered U.S. Army service in 2005 and is in use by some Ukrainian artillery units, can maintain a sustained fire rate of between 2 to 4 rounds every minute and a burst fire of no more than 16 rounds in 2 minutes. Sighting is done using a M12 panoramic telescope.
It is not known if the Ukrainian M114A1 howitzers will be firing RAP (Rocket Assisted Projectiles) munitions (on the assumption the venerable howitzer is not designed to withstand the breech pressures) and it certainly is not compatible with the M982 Excalibur guided projectile. It is unlikely that extended-range projectiles using base-bleed would be fired from the M114A1 and instead, would be reserved for more modern systems such as the M777. This, then, leaves the M107 HE (High-Explosive) projectile as the most likely ammunition to be issued to and used by M114A1 crews. The M107 has a weight of 90 pounds of which 15 pounds is composed of TNT. The ammunition is two-part, consisting of the M107 projectile and the propelling charge. The maximum charge, the M4A1, contains a base charge and four incremental charges. This collection of propellent powder weighs just under 14 pounds. Using the M4A1 charge, the M114A1 can fire the M107 shell out to a maximum range of 9.2 miles. As another comparison, the M777 can fire the same M107 shell to a maximum range of 13 miles. Against hard targets, a M107 shell fired from the M114A1 can penetrate a maximum of 488mm of concrete at a meet angle of 0 degrees at a range of 2.8 miles.
To date, no Ukrainian M114A1 has been lost in action. The photograph was taken on October 15, 2025, the crew firing on Russian positions near Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast.
