On Thursday, 16 March, the Swedish government approved the decision to transfer eight Archer self-propelled artillery systems to Ukraine based on an assessment of the country's Armed Forces. The Swedish government requested that the country’s parliament include this as part of an additional draft budget.

As Swedish news agency TT reports, Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson said that the Archer artillery systems will help Ukrainian forces defeat Russian artillery systems.

"One can say that the Archer system is more of a sniper rifle than a shotgun. It is the ability to hit enemy artillery systems deep behind the lines that makes the Archer unique," Jonson explained.

Ukraine will receive the first Archers within the next several months: the systems will first be equipped with computerised fire control, then the Ukrainian military will undergo training, and a logistics hub for maintenance and repair will be set up near Ukraine.

It is expected that Ukraine will be able to use six of the eight Archers on the battlefield at any one time, as two must be kept in reserve, for example, to obtain spare parts.

In addition to the eight Archer systems, the Swedish government has decided to send 10 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine in preparation for the upcoming counteroffensive, it announced following the meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group on Wednesday, 15 March.

Sweden currently has 48 Archer artillery systems; 24 of them are in service with the Swedish Armed Forces, and the rest are in storage. Of these, 22 are being transferred to Ukraine and will be sold to the UK to replace AS90 systems.