Generolo Jono Žemaičio Lietuvos karo akademija

Contemporary operational environments, particularly those characterized by the widespread use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), expose artillery units to persistent surveillance and rapid targeting, significantly increasing the risk to crews operating at or near the weapon [1,2]. Despite growing automation, a systematic approach to assessing the capability to conduct fire without physical crew presence is lacking. This paper proposes a reproducible evaluation framework for the technical capability of artillery systems to conduct remote-controlled fire from a protected position. The approach combines necessary conditions - unmanned firing cycle, automatic gun aiming, and absence of crew at the weapon - with a multi-criteria assessment and explicit consideration of data uncertainty. The method is applied to selected self-propelled howitzers and multiple launch rocket systems. The evaluation indicates that modern howitzers generally meet the required conditions, while rocket systems exhibit emerging capability, often supported by expert assessment rather than documented evidence.

This paper examines the compression of the artillery kill chain in a UAS-saturated battlefield, using the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (2020) as an empirical case. Based on OSINT analysis, the kill chain is decomposed into measurable phases and their temporal intervals estimated. Results indicate a total duration of 60–120 seconds, making time a dominant tactical constraint. The findings highlight implications for artillery tactics, simulation models, and officer education within Joint Fire Support and Multi-Domain Operations. The study provides a transparent framework linking empirical observations with operational practice.