Brit troops storm Santa’s hometown for show of strength on Putin’s doorstep…& fire game-changer weapon for first time

BRITISH troops unleashed a "game-changing" howitzer for the first time today in a show of strength on Vladimir Putin’s doorstep.

Soldiers braved minus seven-degree chills in Santa’s home region of Lapland, north Finland, to test-run blitzing targets with brand new Archer weapons as part of NATO’s biggest-ever artillery drill.

The monster 33-tonne gun, used to hit personnel and unarmoured vehicles, can strike up to 31 miles away with new extended-range ammunition.

It can also target moving vehicles with one of 21 projectiles held in a single round.

British troops today unleashed some of the 14 high-tech weapons on the Rovajarvi firing range – 70 miles from the Russian border – during NATO’s huge Dynamic Front exercise.

Army Major Neil Hart revealed the truck-mounted weapon would “deliver destructive firepower” while keeping troops moving from point to point at up to 40 miles per hour.

He added: “What this gives us is an extended range that allows us to out-range any enemy guns.

“It's a different tool, but the principles remain the same.

“So you've got people that are very experienced and very well trained on previous weapon systems and they are now essentially converting across.

“This is a brand new bit of kit. We are learning it day by day.

“It's the first time that we're firing this capability, and everyone is super proud to be doing it and super enthused about doing the training.

“They fire everything from standard high exposure shells through to illuminated shells and smoke.”

Battery commander Maj. Barney Ingram said: “Our new bonus anti-armour ammunition has the ability to strike much more heavily [on] moving vehicles as a kind of seeker munition.

“It depends on what munitions you're firing, but you can, realistically, with this capability, neutralise most target sets.”

The Archers replaced 30-year-old AS-90 howitzers, which were donated to Ukraine to fight off tyrant Putin’s forces on the frontline last year.

The old guns could hit targets up to 15 miles away – half the strike range of the newer Archers.

Asked if doubling the guns’ range was a game changer for Britain's artillery ability, Maj. Ingram said: “Absolutely, yes.

“I would hope it is a good deterrent with the extended range.

“With newer ammunition, the range is almost double (the AS-90).

“It depends on what you’re trying to achieve but to have the capability is a really incredible benefit.”

The high-tech guns, designed to target personnel and light armour vehicles, were brought to the UK in September last year as part of a deal with Sweden.

It has taken artillery troops over a year of training to use the guns since the first one arrived at Salisbury Plain last September.

Dynamic Front, with 3,600 troops, is the first time Finland has hosted a large-scale NATO exercise since it joined the military alliance last April.

It abandoned decades of neutrality to protect itself from the threat of Russia after Putin's illegal Ukraine invasion.

Similar Finnish K9 guns were also part of the drill, with soldiers practising “shoot and scoot” manoeuvres — where three rounds are fired in a minute before troops move on.

Finnish army exercise director Colonel Janne Mäkitalo said: “This sends a message that we are able to train together. We are developing our assets.

“We are here to train in interoperability and that is a good message to anybody."

He added: “It’s not enough that Finland has 280,000 in full-time service, and 500,000 trained reservists.

“Ukraine had huge amounts of assets before the war, and it was not enough to stop what happened.

“The only factor that could make Finland join NATO is Russia, and that’s what has happened.”