Does counter barrage extend range? What about cooldown. Does it always fire or does it fire and cool down. The mortar version felt weak so I never actually used the Howitzer version.
AFAIK Counter barrage doesnt extend range, If u turn counter barrage it stays in that state and waits, waits until enemy mortar will hit your units or mortar itself (thats usually to late tho

) It doesnt kill enemy mortar, does a couple volleys and stops and waits until enemy shoots again. To sum it up ... It's useless, doesnt finish enemy mortar, doesnt feel more accurate than normal barrage, mortar it self is more effective when not using counter barrage.
We did try this against soviet mortar:
Soviet mortar started to do barrage on my grens, ost mortar counter barrage it, does almost no damage, precision strike finish of ost mortar
Counter barrage on LeaF/Werfer is useful only against static targets, it can wipe your enemy katyusha if they dont resetup after each shot. But again its better to do this manually.
In my opinion to make it more usefull I would only increase range on counter barrage ability or maybe make it more accurate.
On other abilities:
Sniper vet1 - is great but its bugged against shocks, doesnt stop them;
Medpak - is also useful but imho to expensive;
Inc rounds on mg42 - it's a beast, wait for first burst to suppress then change the ammo, u dont need to turn it on before the fight. Watch how lazors cut flesh

Weak spot - overall its great, currently bugged - useless.
Infantry tracking - shows your enemy infantry on minimap, dirt cheap.