Russian artillery will receive new armored platforms

Howitzer "Msta-B" in a combat zone. The crew has to rely only on camouflage

Based on the accumulated experience of combat work during the Special Operation, the Russian army is making plans for the further development of artillery. Thus, it became known about the planned modernization of towed and self-propelled systems, aimed at increasing the level of crew safety. To this end, it is proposed to gradually transfer artillery to armored tractors and carrier chassis of existing or future types.

Security issues

The Russian Ministry of Defense’s new plans for artillery development were reported on September 4 by Izvestia. It received information of this kind from unnamed representatives of the department. Sources spoke about the existence of the plans in general, and also revealed some of their details.

According to sources, the Ministry of Defense has decided to strengthen the protection of artillery systems. New armored vehicles-tractors for towed guns and chassis with a protected cabin for self-propelled systems will be adopted. The department has already drawn up the tactical and technical requirements for the new models, and the corresponding development work is now beginning.

The requirements for new technology take into account the specifics of modern combat operations. The crew and instruments of the artillery system must be protected not only from bullets and shrapnel, but also from impacts from various unmanned aerial vehicles. Izvestia’s sources did not specify how exactly this problem will be resolved.

Self-propelled "Msta-S" with a protective "visor"

Some information is provided about the required range of new chassis and the systems that will complement them. Izvestia reminds us that our army already has multi-purpose protected trucks - Tornado-U and some modifications of the KamAZ-6530 platform. Now new samples with certain features will be developed.

Armored tractors will provide mobility to towed systems of all major types. In particular, Izvestia refers to the D-20 and 2A36 Giatsint howitzers, as well as mortars in 82 and 120 mm calibers. Chassis carriers with protected cabins are required for multiple launch rocket systems. First of all, this is “Tornado-G”. In addition, similar modernization of the longer-range Smerch and Tornado-S is planned.

Izvestia writes that development work on a new topic or topics has already started. However, the timing of their implementation, exact goals, etc. not yet specified. Probably, as various works are carried out, this or that information about their results will appear.

Modern threats

During combat operations, towed and self-propelled artillery, both cannon and rocket-propelled, is faced with a set of characteristic difficulties, threats and risks. Known measures and means are used to combat them. At the same time, within the framework of modern military operations, new threatening factors arise - this is clearly demonstrated by the current Special Operation.

SAO "Malva", initially having an armored cabin

Modern counter-battery warfare involves the use of a variety of reconnaissance means. These can be specialized radars and other radio systems, as well as light and medium-class unmanned aerial vehicles. All these systems are capable of detecting an artillery position and directing fire weapons at it.

To destroy identified targets in such processes, guns and rocket systems can be used, incl. samples with increased firing range, as well as attack UAVs, including kamikaze vehicles. The latter make it possible to detect and hit a target using one complex and in a minimum time.

The enemy, represented by the Ukrainian armed forces, has all such means, mostly foreign-made. In addition, it has access to foreign intelligence assets and control circuits. All this creates a known threat to our artillery, as well as to the population and infrastructure of the liberated territories. Accordingly, response measures are required.

Armor in stock

Various methods and means can be used to protect artillery systems and crews. Thus, the position can be masked in order to reduce the risks of detection. In addition, electronic warfare equipment is needed to counter counter-battery radars and unmanned aerial vehicles. However, enemy fire cannot be completely ruled out and armor is therefore required.

Self-propelled mortar "Drok" based on an armored car

Currently, our artillery has a number of armored vehicles capable of protecting the crew from shrapnel and shock waves. First of all, these are tracked self-propelled guns of several types with weapons in calibers up to 152 mm. In addition, MT-LB multi-purpose vehicles are in service, used as tractors or carriers of light weapons. Formally, they do not belong to artillery, but heavy flamethrower systems have a similar appearance. Thus, the TOS-2 product is built on a chassis with a protected cabin.

The threat in the form of UAVs with ammunition release devices or kamikaze vehicles has led to the emergence and spread of new means of protection - the so-called. visors. Top projection of self-propelled guns, MLRS, etc. covered with a frame with a mesh capable of reflecting falling ammunition or causing its premature operation.

Measures are being taken to ensure the protection of not only combat vehicles, but also auxiliary vehicles. Thus, several years ago the production of Tornado-U trucks with an armored cab began. Such a machine can be used as a tractor or carry a superstructure, incl. for combat purposes. Additional protection kits are being developed and produced for unarmored vehicles of major brands. In addition, similar kits are assembled in a makeshift manner directly in the troops.

Perspective development

Taking into account previously accumulated and new experience, a variety of artillery and auxiliary systems of various kinds are being developed. In this case, secure platforms are often used. A number of similar samples have already been presented, and now we can expect that the development of this direction will continue.

TOS-2 flamethrower system on the Tornado-U chassis with a protected cabin

Several protected self-propelled guns with different features were developed in the recent past as part of the Sketch design and development project. Thus, the 2S41 “Drok” self-propelled mortar was originally built on the basis of the “Typhoon” armored vehicle with high levels of mobility and protection. During combat work, the crew does not have to leave the protected volume. The 2S43 Malva self-propelled gun, in turn, has an open artillery section, but the crew can hide in an armored cabin.

Similar ideas are proposed in the field of rocket artillery. This year, Russian industry proposed a modification of the Tornado-S MLRS on the chassis of the Spartak armored car. Such a vehicle receives a standard open launcher and also has a two-row crew cabin.

Judging by the last news, we should now expect the emergence of new types of artillery using armored carriers and tractors. Unnamed representatives of the Ministry of Defense through the press have already promised a similar version of “Smerch”, etc.

Necessary measures

During the Special Operation, our army not only solves military and political problems, but also gains experience for its further development. Data is collected on the use of various samples and the use of certain tactics, after which they are analyzed and conclusions are drawn. In addition, new threats are being identified and ways to counter them are being sought.

From the latest news it follows that now specialized organizations of the Ministry of Defense have studied the experience of artillery and issued recommendations for its further development. This time, it is proposed to increase the combat effectiveness and efficiency of barrel and rocket systems due to increased survivability, which will be provided by new platforms. Similar proposals are already being implemented and leading to positive results, and in the future this process will continue at a new level.

Comments

[buv59]

The specifics of the SVO implementation showed that almost any artillery equipment must be reliably protected: not only the gun itself, but also the personnel serving it. In all previous wars, such requirements arose to one degree or another, but due to the lack of a drone on the battlefield, they remained unfulfilled. If the use of UAVs shocked the Armenian side during the conflict, then their current use, and most importantly the number and variety of UAVs, carried out a whole revolution, the result of which was the need to protect almost any heavy weapon.

[Denis812]

Well, in general, booking self-propelled guns did not arise out of the blue, namely in connection with the need to protect guns and personnel.

Armenians were not plunged into any "shock" of UAVs. 90% of the losses in that war fell on artillery. And for the UAV, they just did an advertising campaign very well.
But yes, in NWO the situation with UAVs is completely different. Heavy drones, like the same Bayraktars, are almost out of work, with the exception of remote reconnaissance tasks. And rare percussion tasks.
But massive cheapness rules :)

[Alexey RA]

Quote: Denis812

Armenians were not plunged into any "shock" of UAVs. 90% of the losses in that war fell on artillery. And for the UAV, they just did an advertising campaign very well.

The shock was not from shock, but from reconnaissance UAVs. It suddenly turned out that the enemy constantly sees the entire defense line and rear - and can choose to shoot critical targets in real time. For example, he can track the air defense system, wait for it to go to reload - and it is at this time that he can accurately hit the combat vehicle of the complex.

[buv59]

Strange. On the website of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, videos of the work of loitering ammunition have been published. And there are plenty of such videos on the site: hitting vehicles, groups of soldiers, dugouts, where personnel managed to run in and thereby arrange a mass grave for themselves .. I repeat - this is a massive use. And to take into account that the number of military personnel there was 10 times less than it is now in the NVO, such use of drones greatly frightened the Armenian military.

[Alexey RA]

Quote from buv59

On the website of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, videos of the work of loitering ammunition have been published. And there are plenty of such videos on the site: hitting equipment, groups of soldiers, dugouts, where personnel managed to run in and thereby arrange a mass grave for themselves.

That's it. The main hero of that war was reconnaissance UAVs, which provided war live. The command could track in real time the movement of enemy troops and rear areas, hit them in various ways (depending on the available forces and means) and control the defeat of the target, adding fire if necessary. Harop flew to someone, Spike flew to someone, and someone was sprinkled with chalk from artillery or MLRS in the old fashioned way - but all this was filmed from above and broadcast on the command post.

[buv59]

I am writing to you that loitering ammunition is shown first of all. And as you answered - this is “Harops”. That's exactly what they showed! And the fact that the Armenians were frightened, says that very often they showed how the fighters run and hide in dugouts. The question immediately arises: why are they running? Yes, because they heard the noise of the propeller-driven Harop. That is, they knew about its use and had heard about it. Only instead of running away in different directions, on the contrary, they ran to the shelter, where they were all covered at once. And the video clearly shows that it was the Harop that acted, and not the ATGM or artillery shell.

[Plane_Junkers]

First of all, we need to protect the crew. A self-propelled gun can be restored; it will take longer and more expensive to restore a dead experienced crew

[Narrator]

I agree, it takes 30 years to create a good specialist, and it is clearly less to assemble equipment.

[Plover]

And at the same time automate everything. Of the crew, in theory, there should only be a driver-operator who arrives at a given square and presses two buttons: “Bring to combat position/bring to stowed position” and “Fire!” Everything else - targeting, adjustment based on the results of the strike - information systems.

[stankow]

And who will load the ammunition from the warehouse, unload it at the base station, equip it, and load it into the combat vehicle? Who will do the camouflage, who will dig the trench for the vehicle and the shelter for the crew? Robots with AI? From a geek - a worthless artilleryman

[Alexey RA]

Quote from buv59

If the use of UAVs shocked the Armenian side during the conflict

There were not only UAVs, but also long-range ATGMs. Moreover, 4 years before the conflict, the Armenians were also shown on them how they would be smashed. But the lesson did not go to the future, because at that time Russia intervened in the conflict. So the Armenians simply scored for the lessons of 2016.

[VicktorVR]

It is necessary to bring it to the point that the MLRS could work without a person leaving the cabin at all. In order to transfer from marching to combat and vice versa, aiming and firing (this has been around for a long time) was carried out from the remote control in the cockpit. Well, there's something left...

[Victor Leningradets]

Thank you, Kirill, for the interesting article.
As for me, towed artillery is nonsense.
The weapon must be either portable (mortar) or self-propelled armored (howitzer, MLRS).
The armor is supposed to be anti-fragmentation, which in my opinion will not be enough against damaging elements such as arrows, but this is a matter of mass limitation. The most correct thing would be to equip self-propelled artillery (both howitzers and MLRS) with KAZ. Since drone attacks are individual in nature, destroying a drone at close range is a trivial task.
In addition, issues of camouflage pose the problem of using tracked platforms due to their better adaptability to the terrain, for which the chassis of obsolete tanks in storage would be quite suitable.
And lastly, it is not only necessary to eliminate the exit of the crew from the shelter to aim the gun, but also to make this operation remote from the command post. Thus, at first, only the driver will be included in the calculation, and all other operations should be automated or transferred to telemechanics.

[alexoff]

They say the advantage of towed artillery in its small dimensions and especially height is that it can be put into the forest belt without any problems and no one will see it there. Yes, and leave there, come to one howitzer, then to another with ammunition. By the way, automation systems for conventional howitzers have also been developed, only shells need to be fed to the calculation.

[Alexey RA]

Quote from alexoff

They say the advantage of towed artillery in its small dimensions and especially height is that it can be put into the forest belt without any problems and no one will see it there.

The problem is being solved by an UAV with a thermal imager and a counter-battery radar.

Quote from alexoff

Yes, and leave there, come to one howitzer, then to another with ammunition.

That is, roll ruts to the firing positions.

[Eug]

In addition to protected artillery, in the "era" of UAVs, no less protected means of electronic warfare, RER and ZRPK are needed. In past wars, the main defense of artillery was digging in the gun.

[Vadim S]

It was the 3rd decade of the 21st century, our die-hards finally realized that all technology should be proned! But before, was it enough for parades and exercises? And the main thing is presented as some kind of discovery, here it is, they solved the mystery, got experience in the teeth! What kind of people...

[your1970]

Quote: Vadim S

It was the 3rd decade of the 21st century, our die-hards finally realized that all technology should be proned! But before, was it enough for parades and exercises?

For you personally, this has been known since the Second World War. The only problem is that the armor weighs a lot....
Or do you think that the General Staff of the SA did not know that in Afghanistan they hang armor plates on the doors of KamAZ trucks not for beauty?
It all comes down to weight and whether it is possible to sacrifice something in the weapon itself for the sake of this.

[Plover]

And does this justify what has been done in this area since the 80s? The concept of warfare adopted in the USSR implied the main enemy in Europe. Everything is according to the classics: nuclear strikes, tanks and infantry fighting vehicles that cross rivers by swimming. Afghanistan was a “misunderstanding”; as a result, no one planned to change anything in the concept of combat operations, and then the USSR was covered with a copper basin. But since 1994 it should have been clear. But, no - the “concept” again did not imply.

[Mikhail Maslov]

Obvious things. The Defense Ministry should, without any pathos, adopt only armored vehicles yesterday, the rear units are simply obliged to have equipment with the possibility of installing additional protection. And this is not only armor, these are remotely controlled modules, and UAV countermeasures systems (there are already domestic developments war-tested) specially designed for such tasks.

[Plover]

How many lives were needed for the high army commanders to finally realize that everything where a person can be accommodated should be armored!

[AlOrg]

I am surprised that this idea about the need to armor military equipment came to our generals after almost 2 years of full-scale hostilities. With a shudder of the heart, I watch archival videos of the offensive of our military on the Urals covered with canvas awnings somewhere near Kiev

[Alexey Lantukh]

The Ministry of Defense decided to strengthen the protection of artillery systems. New armored tractors for towed guns and a chassis with a protected cab for self-propelled systems will be put into service. The department has already drawn up tactical and technical requirements for new models, and the corresponding development work is now beginning.

It may well be, but that's when it will be. In the meantime, on the basis of obsolete tanks in storage, along with the release of new self-propelled guns, it would be nice to quickly release a series of self-propelled guns with good armor or heavy armored personnel carriers.

[Observer2014]

I wonder how and why plus when the Malva crew can
have time to hide in an armored cabin ?? At the whistle of the approaching Excalibur, for example, will they rush into the cockpit? So disappoint. They won't succeed. Projectile over sound. Will fly first. Then the sound will come. In general, the correct topic was touched upon in the article. Before putting naked on fashionable art on wheels. You must first make the gun itself and ammunition with a decent range and accuracy. Naked art is needed only if it is superior in range and accuracy. They quickly moved out of position. In other cases. She needs armor to survive.

[AA22Helmet]

I have previously written about the lack of armor for multiple launch rocket systems, and a large number of towed cannon artillery and tractors, without any armor at all.. Russian designers, as always, go their own ways. Western artillery systems have long been armored and long-range, not only highly accurate. So what? Experience of others not a decree, they created exhibition samples, showing the enemy that they say that we are all in chocolate and fell asleep in a lethargic sleep collectively, together with those who make decisions. It seems that some kind of planning, analysis of the enemy’s achievements has been simply unknown to certain individuals for decades. Probably, only some organized crime groups and other “partners” were considered as opponents, as stated from high stands. Hurray friends, the hour of truth has come and everything hidden has become clear.

[Vlatko_Radovic]

If we judge the speed of the introduction of "advanced" developments according to the 2006 mm Coalition SV 152S2, which has been promoted since 35, then wait at least 17 years for the SVO to end. There is no way to ask, to expedite the booking, - there are all your friends nearby, who is godfather, and who is godfather.

[Zaurbek]

You better write an article about why there is no long-range artillery?! In the West, this has been a trend for the last 20 years. And in the Russian Federation we use the inheritance from the wars of the Arabs with Israel, the Koreans, etc. Then it was also revealed that the range of our guns was insufficient and they began to develop Geacints, MST, Malki. Now all progressive humanity is switching to 52-54 cal 155mm guns. And we rejoice at the new Msta on a wheeled chassis. At a minimum, we need a coalition, we can "lengthen" the Msta barrel, we need to modernize the Hyacinth, we need to rethink our legacy - the 203mm Malka.

[keleg]

Long-range artillery has a very low barrel life, so it makes sense to fire only guided projectiles. Much cheaper, the same problem is solved with the help of MLRS.

[stankow]

Long-range artillery shells (regular) are more expensive. And unsuitable for mass wartime production. The tolerances are smaller, and besides, you can’t cast at all, especially from cast iron - a huge drawback. There is more dispersion. Suboptimal in terms of fragmentation effect, etc. You see for yourself what all this is leading to, happening before your eyes. The West is losing the war.

[Foma Kinyaev]

Of course, we must start with the execution of the leaders of KAMAZ and the armored command of the RF Armed Forces. It is this scum that is the creators of today’s situation. What kind of crap is this KAMAZ typhoon? Why does the army need this 12-ton tomb Gorse with an 82 mm fart? A carnation weighs almost the same. There is an armored personnel carrier 40,152 with a load-bearing hull - what else can you come up with?

[Mikhail Maslov]

And not even two years have passed. It’s good that they realized it. But as always, there’s a fly in the ointment. Why aren’t new art forms being developed? systems?, why aren’t new methods of application being developed taking into account new threats? New data transmission systems, a unified data exchange network? Putting protective nets and a breakwater reb on the tractor (this still needs to be done) is one and necessary change, but the approach to use and interaction also needs to be changed and reworked.

[stankow]

The tractor that is needed is the “Bear”. There is not a word about him in the article. The author probably didn’t even hear...