Belgium's Council of Ministers is soon to be presented with a proposal to acquire and donate three Caesar howitzers to Ukraine at a cost of €12 million, according to Defence Minister Ludivine Dedonder.
The Caesar is a 155mm calibre howitzer mounted on a truck, produced by the French company Nexter. It can fire six rounds per minute, with a range of up to 40 kilometres. Over 300 units have been sold to the French, Danish, Czech, Thai, Indonesian, and various Middle Eastern armies.
The French army used the Caesar extensively in Iraq from September 2016 to April 2019 against the Islamic State, ISIS, group. Since February 2022, France has also delivered 30 of these howitzers to Ukraine. These highly mobile units enable artillery crews to fire at targets and quickly relocate to avoid counter-fire.
On 18 January, France formed an “artillery coalition” to support the Ukrainian army alongside the United States. Twenty-five countries, including Belgium, joined with the aim of providing an additional 72 Caesar howitzers to Ukraine in 2024, on top of six already scheduled for delivery. France plans to cover the cost of twelve using its Ukraine Support Fund. Belgium joined the coalition in May and committed to supplying three howitzers.
The Caesars that Belgium will donate to Ukraine are not from the batch ordered for its own army. Under the STAR (Security & Service, Technology, Ambition and Resilience) plan, Belgium’s Defence Ministry will acquire a total of 28 Caesars, with deliveries starting from 2027, and these are intended to remain in Belgium.
The war in Ukraine, characterised by high-intensity conflict, has highlighted the strategic importance of artillery. “Mass becomes a key to success, both in the number of launchers and the tonnage of shells,” the French Ministry of the Armed Forces stated in January.
Besides supplying artillery pieces, the coalition aims to address Ukraine’s dire need for ammunition against a stronger Russian force. In addition to sending supplies from its own stockpiles, Belgium has partnered with the defence industry to support Ukraine. In late February, Belgium committed €200 million to a Czech initiative to provide Kyiv with essential munitions.
