The TRF1, originally known as GIAT 155 mm Tracté (TR) is a
155mm
The 155 mm calibre is widely used for artillery guns.
Land warfare
Historic calibres
France - 1874
The caliber originated in France after the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871).
A French artillery committee met on 2 February 1874 to dis ...
French towed
howitzer
The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...
produced by
Nexter
KNDS France (formerly known as Nexter, GIAT Industries or ''Groupement des Industries de l'Armée de Terre'', Army Industries Group) is a French government-owned weapons manufacturer, based in Versailles. The company was wholly government-owne ...
(ex Giat Industries) and used by the
French Army
The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...
.
The TRF1 was showcased in 1979 at the Eurosatory arms trade show, as a replacement for Armée de Terre's
BF-50. Giat produced it from 1984 to 1993.
Performance
*Setting out of battery: 2 min
*Crossing of slopes of 60%, fords of 1.20m.
*Horizontal field of fire: 445mil to the left, 675mil to the right.
*Hydrauli
aiming
Ammunition
*Capacity of tractor: 56 rounds, 32 on pallets and 24 in racks.
*Can fire all 155 mm ammunition (the normal ammunition is the
high-explosive shell
A shell, in a modern military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military context. A shell c ...
).
*Casings are combustible, which improves rate of fire: there is nothing to extract before reloading.
Combat history
The TRF1 was used in combat by
Ukrainian Ground Forces
The Ukrainian Ground Forces (SVZSU, ), also referred to as the Ukrainian army, is a land force, and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It was formed from Ukrainian units of the Soviet Army after Declaratio ...
during the
2022 invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
. Photographic evidence shows that at least one TRF1 was destroyed in combat near
Lyman.
Operators
Current operators
* – 12 delivered in 1991
[
* – 28 delivered in 1990–1991]
* – 8 delivered in 2011[
* – 6 ex-French Army guns bought in September 2022]
Former operators
* – 105 or 106 delivered, last retired in April 2022
See also
*
*
References
Works cited
*
Post–Cold War artillery of France
KNDS France
Howitzers
155 mm artillery
Military equipment introduced in the 1990s
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