Latvia has supplied 6 M109 self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine, according to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov.
According to the minister, 6 more M109 howitzers that have recently arrived in Ukraine from Latvia are already showing results on the battlefield.
“I‘m sincerely grateful to my Latvian colleague Artis Pabriks and the people of Latvia for their unwavering support. Together we will win!” Reznikov said.
According to some reports, like one from Militarnyi, Latvia handed over to Ukraine self-propelled guns in the M109A5OE configuration, which were previously in service in Austria, and then acquired by the Latvian armed forces. The self-propelled howitzers purchased by Latvia were upgraded during their stay in service with the Austrian army in 2003-2007 and then were sent to storage.
The M109 is an American-made 155mm turreted self-propelled howitzer, first introduced in the early 1960s. The M109 family is the most common Western indirect-fire support weapon of maneuver brigades of armored and mechanized infantry divisions.
The M109 has a crew of four: the section chief/commander, the driver, the gunner, and the ammunition handler/loader. The chief or gunner aims the cannon left or right (deflection) and up and down (quadrant).