What is the Krab howitzer?

Poland has been producing and operating an effective artillery weapon since 2012 which can fire six rounds a minute with a range of 40km.

Tanks were king, in the Russia-Ukraine war, but artillery now seems to reign supreme.

Designed by a Polish weapons manufacturer, the AHS Krab is a 155mm NATO-compatible self-propelled howitzer that is in demand – the artillery is part of a deal, worth $700 million between Ukraine and Poland.

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Breaking down the 'Krab'

The Krab is a self-propelled, tracked gun-howitzer which takes NATO-compatible 155mm ammunition with its 155mm cannon.

Built by BAE Systems, the Krab has been in service with the Polish Army since 2012.

It can fire six rounds a minute, and the tracked chassis has a top speed of 60 km/hr.

With a crew of five members, it has a range of 40km.

The turret is almost identical to the AS90, in service with the British Army.

The design of the Krab is standard for a modern self-propelled howitzer with the driver position on the left, the powerpack is on the forward right and the turret is mounted at the rear of the hull.

Protection is provided by the turret and the hull against the firing of small arms and artillery shell splinters.

A battery of Krab artillery system consists of six Krab self-propelled howitzers, two ammunition resupply vehicles based on trucks chassis, Waran maintenance vehicle and Azalia artillery C3I vehicle.

Poland's Prime Minister recently said that his country is working on a huge arms deal with Ukraine.

The deal, worth $700 million will involve Poland selling around 60 of its Krab self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine.

Which would be Poland’s largest military export in 20 years.

In late May, Poland had already provided Ukraine with 18 Krab self-propelled howitzers (three batteries) and trained 100 Ukrainian artillerymen to work with them.

With the delivery of new howitzers from Europe, Ukraine is receiving NATO-standard weapons in place of Soviet-era weaponry which they used in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.