BAE Systems Licenses Ukraine to Build Its Own L119 Artillery Gun

BAE Systems has signed a licensing agreement with an unnamed Ukrainian partner to build a domestically manufactured version of the 105mm L119 Light Gun, shifting Ukraine from weapons recipient to weapons producer.

The deal, signed this past summer, hands the Ukrainian partner the license, engineering expertise, product specifications and technical information needed to produce the towed howitzer inside Ukraine. BAE declined to name the partner publicly. The agreement allows production of a test article, which must be successfully manufactured and qualified before full production proceeds.

Giles Ambrose, engineering, technology and strategy director at BAE Systems, framed the deal around sovereignty rather than supply. "The need of the Ukrainians is sovereign capability as opposed to equipment supply," he told Business Insider.

Why the L119?

The Light Gun family carries real combat pedigree. The L118 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 Light Gun as "one of the world's most battle-tested artillery capabilities," while the US Army calls it "one of the most versatile weapon systems in the US Army inventory."

Ukraine already operates the L119 — the UK began supplying the guns in 2022, after Russia's invasion. Ambrose said "it's been proven that it really works for the operational needs of the end users in Ukraine," citing the gun's reliability, lightweight design for easy movement, and smaller size.

What changes with local production?

The Ukrainian variant will match the original's performance but adapt how it gets built. Ambrose said the gun will "be performing to the same specification, albeit built to Ukrainian standard."

The goal is "the same product specification, the same performance," he said. The difference: "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 matters on two fronts:

• It lets Ukraine tailor production to its own factories and workforce rather than foreign supply chains.
• It shortens the loop between production, repair and battlefield availability — Ambrose said the variant "will then maximize the battlefield availability."

"But our role in it will mean it will still perform the same as what is out there performing today," he added.

Repair at home, not overseas

The license agreement sits inside a broader BAE effort to keep Ukraine's weapons maintained in-country. BAE works with another British company, AMS Integrated Solutions Ltd, to maintain, repair and overhaul the light guns already in Ukrainian service. Keeping that work local speeds repairs and returns guns to the front faster.

Ambrose said the arrangement "means we're able to upskill in-country engineers and build industrial capability around those systems."

He split the roles plainly: "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 Sweden-donated Archer artillery systems inside Ukraine, including technical training for Ukrainian soldiers who maintain the equipment.

Artillery still matters in a drone war

Drones have reshaped Ukraine's battlefield, but recent major operations have shown artillery retains a central role. Guns like the L119 deliver sustained fire against Russian positions, complementing drones used for surveillance, targeting and precision strikes.

BAE's own industrial base backs the program. The company's 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.

The model now being tested with the L119 — license, specs, in-country manufacture and local sustainment — could become the template for how Western defense firms arm Ukraine without keeping it dependent on their factories.