US sets up repair facility for artillery supplied to Ukraine in Poland

The US armed forces have organized a repair facility in Poland for artillery pieces supplied to Ukraine, Report informs referring to The New York Times.

A third of the roughly 350 Western-made howitzers donated to Kyiv are out of action at any given time, according to US defense officials and others familiar with Ukraine’s defense needs.

Swapping out a howitzer’s barrel, which can be 20 feet long and weigh thousands of pounds, is beyond the capability of soldiers in the field and has become a priority for the Pentagon’s European Command, which has set up a repair facility in Poland.

After the damaged howitzers arrive in Poland, maintenance crews can change out the barrels and make other repairs. Ukrainian officials have said they would like to bring those maintenance sites closer to the front lines, so that the guns can be returned to combat sooner, the US officials and other people said.