Artillery is shy for the moment because of the attention it receives. When it gets a little privacy, it will roar back.
Artillery is not dead, it is just hunted more effectively:
Drones currently account for 70 to 80
percent of losses on the Russia-Ukraine battlefield, supplanting
artillery as the “King of Battle.” At first glance, this shift suggests
that both Russia and Ukraine have transitioned away from traditional
artillery in favor of cutting-edge drones as a means of delivering
fires. The reality is that drones cannot replicate the firepower of
artillery, which remains central to Russian and Ukrainian combat
operations. This shift has occurred not because drones are superior to
artillery, but because drones have made artillery far more difficult to
employ. Both sides use drones extensively to locate and target enemy
guns, forcing artillery units to adapt their tactics in order to survive
and continue delivering limited firepower on an increasingly
transparent battlefield.
I will add that the shell shortage pushed Ukraine to use what they could get--FPV suicide drones. The artillery problem of being targeted expanded from armored vehicle vulnerability on the front to the rear where artillery lives when the range and density of the drone recon and strike network expanded to the rear.
Just as tanks and other armored combat vehicles need expanded combined arms operations to fight in this environment, artillery must adapt equipment and tactics, too.
And anything in the rear that exists within an expanded No-Man's Land now must, too, of course.
Anyway, the King of Battle is pleased at the offering of respect.
NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
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