The Prussians were the first in the 1740s to field a viable field artillery. It was proven in the field during the War of the Austrian Succession and was clearly superior to what the Austrians then had. Liechtenstein developed his new artillery system in the 1750s to counter the Prussian artillery arm. The Austrian artillery beforehand was still a guild and Liechtenstein developed it into a combat arm which surprised the Prussians in the Seven Years' War.

The Austrians still had to make use of French artillery and engineer officers seconded to them in the Seven Years' War. Gribeauval was an artillery lieutenant colonel who was sent to Austria to supply senior artillery officers which were lacking in the Austrian service. He also helped them develop a useful engineer arm, as he had commanded a miner company in the artillery (the miners were still part of the artillery).

Gribeauval had experience with both the Prussian and Austrian artillery arms as he had seen and studied the former, and had served in combat with the latter. The Duc de Choiseul chose him to reform the French artillery and in doing that form a French field artillery arm. Just as Liechtenstein had been influenced in his artillery reforms by the Prussians and the French Valliere System, so Gribeauval was influenced by Valliere, the Prussians and the Austrians. The 'three calibers' for field artillery that Gribeauval introduced in 1765 and after were more robust pieces than either the Prussian or Austrian models, the gun carriages were of a different design, as well as other innovations and reforms he instituted which entirely remade the French artillery arm.