BAE Systems has signed a license agreement with an unnamed Ukrainian partner to develop and eventually manufacture a domestic variant of the 105mm Light Gun, moving Ukraine one step closer to producing its own artillery rather than depending on foreign supply. Giles Ambrose, the company's engineering, technology, and strategy director, framed the deal as a transfer of capability, not hardware: "The need of the Ukrainians is sovereign capability as opposed to equipment supply."

The agreement, signed this past summer, grants a license to a Ukrainian strategic partner that BAE will not name publicly. It also provides the engineering expertise, product specifications, and technical information required to build the towed howitzer on Ukrainian soil. The first milestone is a test article, which must be successfully manufactured and qualified before production can move forward. BAE will continue supplying engineering support throughout.

Why the Light Gun?

The Light Gun family carries a combat record spanning four decades. The L118 variant served with British forces in the Falklands War. The L119 was adopted by the US Army as the M119 and used in Iraq and Afghanistan. BAE describes the weapon as "one of the world's most battle-tested artillery capabilities," while the US Army characterizes it as "one of the most versatile weapon systems in the US Army inventory."

Ukraine already operates the L119. The United Kingdom began supplying the guns in 2022, after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. Ambrose said combat use has settled the question of fit: "It's been proven that it really works for the operational needs of the end users in Ukraine." He cited the gun's reliability, its lightweight design for easy movement, and its smaller size.

What changes under the license?

The Ukrainian variant will match the original in performance. Ambrose said it will "be performing to the same specification, albeit built to Ukrainian standard." The goal, he said, is "the same product specification, the same performance." The difference lies in how it is made: "there will be manufacturing processes, specifications pertinent to Ukraine, unique to a Ukrainian industrial base, which will make it easier and maybe more preferable to use in building this gun."

That localization, Ambrose argued, pays off at the front. The variant "gives Ukraine the ability to optimize for their industrial base" and "will then maximize the battlefield availability." His qualification: "But our role in it will mean it will still perform the same as what is out there performing today."

Artillery in a drone war

Drones have transformed Ukraine's battlefield, but guns have not lost their place. A recent major Ukrainian operation demonstrated that artillery still matters. Systems like the L119 deliver sustained fire against Russian positions, complementing drones used for surveillance, targeting, and precision strikes. For Kyiv, the calculus behind domestic production is threefold: greater control over its own defense, shorter production and repair times, and reduced exposure to shifting political priorities among allies — a vulnerability European officials have acknowledged openly.

A wider footprint in Ukraine

The Light Gun license sits inside a broader BAE effort to build sustainment capacity inside Ukraine. The company works with another British firm, AMS Integrated Solutions Ltd, to maintain, repair, and overhaul the light guns already in Ukrainian service. Keeping that work in-country cuts repair times and returns weapons to action faster. Ambrose said the arrangement "means we're able to upskill in-country engineers and build industrial capability around those systems."

He drew a clean division of labor between the two companies: "We, BAE Systems, provide the engineering expertise and with that, decades of through-life artillery support capability. AMS bring their in-country facilities, their maintenance expertise and Ukrainian engineering skills, to deliver repair and overhaul capability."

BAE also holds a contract to repair Archer artillery systems — donated by Sweden — inside Ukraine. That program includes technical training for Ukrainian soldiers on maintaining the equipment, extending the skills transfer from factory floor to frontline units.

The industrial base behind the deal

BAE Systems brings serious artillery infrastructure to the partnership. Its new 94,000-square-foot artillery development and production site in Sheffield, England, is now operational. "It is the home of UK Howitzer production and is at full operating capability now," Ambrose said.

For Ukraine, the license agreement converts a supplier relationship into an industrial one. The guns arrive not as donations or purchases but as specifications, processes, and expertise — assets that stay in the country regardless of how allied politics shift.