We use cookies on this website. By continuing to use this site without changing your cookie settings, you agree that you are happy to accept our privacy policy and for us to access our cookies on your device.
Transcript/ScriptUSAGM SHARE
PLAYBOOK SLUG: Howitzers Ukraine
HEADLINE: How US Howitzers Help Ukraine on Front Lines
TEASER:
PUBLISHED:02/xx/2024 at
BYLINE: Anna Kosstutschenko
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Donetsk Region, Ukraine
VIDEOGRAPHER: Pavel Suhodolskiy
VIDEO EDITOR: Pavel Suhodolskiy
SCRIPT EDITORS: KEnochs; caw
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, Story Hunter
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:17
TYPE: TVPKG
VID APPROVED BY: KE
EDITOR NOTES:
PLEASE RETURN TO ANNA RICE AND COPY TO HFR PLEASE
((INTRO))
[[Eighteen U.S.-produced, self-propelled howitzers are part of the latest security assistance package bound for Ukraine, worth some $800 million. The Howitzers are part of a 1.2-billion-dollar defense agreement between Ukraine and Germany. Anna Kosstutschenko has the story.
((NARRATION))
((NATS)) ((UKR, VOICE))
“Prepare! Fire!»
This officer from the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, who goes by the call sign Kent, is a professional soldier from the city of Dnipro. He commands a crew that operates Paladin,155-millimeter howitzers. For safety reasons, VOA does not use his name.
((NATS)) ((Shot))
The Paladin version of the U.S. Army’s self-propelled howitzers was introduced into the U.S. Army in 1992. According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, the country received the first artillery pieces in May 2022.
((Mandatory courtesy: Armed Forces of Ukraine))
((NATS)) ((Shot))
((End courtesy))
((NARRATION))
The 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade has been using them since the fall of 2023, says Kent.
((Kent, 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade)) ((UKR))
“If you compare these systems to the Soviet ones, there is a significant difference – for example, the firing range for a Soviet howitzer is about 17 kilometers; for Paladin it is at least 28, or, if we use the Excalibur shell, it is up to 40 kilometers.”
((NARRATION))
Paladin howitzers are used to eliminate the enemy’s heavy equipment that poses the most danger to Ukrainian infantrymen, like tanks.
((Mandatory courtesy: Armed Forces of Ukraine))
((NATS)) ((Shot))
((End courtesy))
((NARRATION))
Thirty-five-year-old Lviv resident Bohdan worked in Estonia as a construction worker. He returned from Estonia to defend his native country when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. He says he mastered the digital system of the Paladin howitzer in just a week and that the system increases the effectiveness of each shot.
((Bohdan, Serviceman, 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade)) ((UKR))
“The armor here is much stronger than in the Soviet howitzer Akacia, which I worked with at the beginning of the invasion. It is also easier to use, because we raise the barrel with a joystick.”
((NARRATION))
Thirty-six-year-old Ukrainian Roman also returned from abroad. When Russia invaded Ukraine, he was working in Poland but was back home to fight and defend his country and the future of his two children.
((Roman, Serviceman, 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade)) ((UKR))
“I love my country, and I have children – and I don't want to pass this war on to them. They have suffered enough already.”
((NARRATION))
Managing a Paladin howitzer is a five-person job. After they receive the necessary coordinates, they take a direct shot.
((NATS))
“Fire!
((NARRATION))
Under terms of the agreement between Germany and Ukraine, 18 more self-propelled howitzers will be delivered in 2026 and 2027, although no one here hopes the war will still be going on then.
((Anna Kosstutschenko, VOA News, Donetsk Region, Ukraine))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
