Artillery is today, as in 1916, the main producer of casualties on the Ukrainian front. This chapter describes artillery survival at doctrinal level: terrain, dispersion, overhead cover, sound recognition, post-impact behaviour. It does NOT contain observation, correction or offensive employment procedures.
Artillery on the 2022-2026 front
The Ukrainian front features historically high indirect-fire intensity. Publicly known systems: 152 mm 2S19 Msta, 122 mm 2S1 Gvozdika, 152 mm 2S3 Akatsiya, 220 mm BM-27 Uragan, 300 mm BM-30 Smerch, 240 mm 2S4 Tyulpan (Russian side); 155 mm M777, M109, PzH 2000, CAESAR, Krab, M270 MLRS, HIMARS (Ukrainian/NATO side).
- Tempo: active sectors can receive 100-500 rounds per day per linear kilometre
- Accuracy: modern artillery with UAV correction reaches CEP < 50 m at 20 km
- Flight time: 152 mm at 15 km ≈ 25-40 seconds; MLRS at 40 km ≈ 60-90 seconds
- Effects: fragmentation (lethal radius 15-25 m), blast wave, high-velocity shrapnel
- Special munitions: cluster (illegal, still employed), thermobaric, illumination, smoke, guided (Krasnopol)
There is no 'luck' in artillery. There is local terrain geometry, dispersion discipline, overhead cover quality. The difference between live and wounded is almost always in details.
Terrain — read the map to survive
Artillery hits from above. Protection comes from local altimetry and cover quality. Reading terrain is the first survival skill.
- Reverse slope: slope facing away from enemy — natural protection from direct fire
- Defilade: position concealed from enemy view by terrain (gully, behind crest)
- Burma trench / dugout: trench with overhead cover, gold standard of survival
- Cellar / basement: rural building cellars, excellent if solid
- Pipes and channels: deep drainage, ditches with cover — emergency shelters
- Avoid: open flat terrain, dominating positions without cover, road intersections
| Position type | Relative survival |
|---|---|
| Open, standing | Near zero — wounding certain at 20-50 m |
| Prone, exposed | Low — protects from flat shrapnel, not overhead |
| Hole/crater | Medium — re-hit craters rare but exist |
| Trench without overhead | Medium — protects lateral, vulnerable to airburst |
| Trench with overhead | High — survives fragmentation, not direct hit |
| Bunker or solid cellar | Very high — survives even close impact |
Dispersion and patterns
- Minimum distance between elements at halt: 10-15 m in trench, 25-50 m in open
- Never more than 4-5 visible together from above (observer drone)
- Vehicles: dispersed > 50 m, never aligned on road, never same track
- Movement in small groups (pair or triad) rather than full squad
- Pattern of life: vary transit hours, never same halt point
- Firing positions: change every 1-3 bursts to avoid correction
Sound recognition
The trained ear distinguishes incoming munition types, direction and flight phase. It is a skill built with experience but doctrinal basics can be learned.
- Boom + whistle: round already fired, in flight, arriving within seconds
- Rising whistle: direct trajectory at you — go prone immediately
- Falling whistle: trajectory moving away — round passes beyond
- Dull whump: mortar or long-range round
- Continuous crackle: MLRS / Grad incoming — multiple rounds seconds apart
- Fast tac-tac: cluster sub-munition in terminal phase
- Round's 'hot' sound: supersonic, may precede departure boom
The ear does not always catch long-range artillery incoming: the round arrives in relative silence for the receiver. Passive protection (permanent overhead cover at halt) beats sound recognition.
Behaviour under fire
- Go prone immediately — even in open is better than standing
- Seek nearest overhead cover: trench, ditch, behind thick wall, into building
- Cover head with arms, mouth open (reduces pressure shock on eardrums)
- Stay low until end of burst + minimum 60 seconds (second-salvo / cluster secondary risk)
- Brief radio comm only if needed — observer drone awaits callout
- Re-set: check gear, check teammates, reposition if position compromised
Post-impact — the first 5 minutes
The deadliest period is often not the first impact but the following minutes. The second salvo, the correction drone, the FPV swarm — all wait for the wrong move.
- Do not cluster around a casualty in open space — treat in dispersion, then move
- TCCC: immediate tourniquet, packing, airway — no improvisation
- MEDEVAC: 9-line callout only from covered or mobile position, not on impact site
- Change position within 5-10 minutes — first position is now compromised
- Verify if attack was 'find' (drone) or 'blind' (map) — former followed by second burst
- Switch off phones, reduce emissions — SIGINT awaits post-impact traffic surge
Common mistakes
- Standing to watch the first impact (fatal curiosity)
- Rushing to assist without assessing if still under fire
- Bunching in compact cluster in trench (one direct hit = many casualties)
- Relying on visual cover thinking it suffices — fragmentation goes through fabric
- Long transmissions immediately after attack (signal that amplifies targeting)
- Never moving from a 'historic' position ("never been hit here")
Lessons learned Ukraine
Recurring phrase among 2022-2026 veterans: 'Artillery doesn't know you're there until you tell it.' Artillery targeting depends on observer drones, SIGINT, OSINT, and first of all on own discipline. Documented major losses do not come from direct hits on deep trenches — they come from clustering, delays in taking cover, second salvos after a first that 'found' the position, and underestimation of flight time (tens of seconds are enough to change posture, not to relocate). Synthetic rule: 'When you hear the whistle, you are already either alive or dead based on what you did in the previous ten minutes.'