/ world today news/ The special operation gave a start (better to say a kick) for the implementation of many long-delayed decisions in the army. Russia is busy with the creation of low-cost planning bombs, the mass production of reconnaissance UAVs and the interoperability of early warning aircraft (AWACS) and anti-aircraft systems.
Now we set about universalizing our main argument on the battlefield – artillery. The amazing results are obvious.
Russia is not the homeland of weapons. But if you look at military history, it is easy to see that we have always paid special attention to this type of weapon.
Russia appeared in the field of view of Europeans during the time of Ivan the Terrible. And the first thing that our then partners noted was the large and high-quality artillery park of the Russian tsar.
The empire paid great attention to the production of artillery under Peter I, who did not spare the “purple bell” in the name of cannons.
To be fair, it is worth noting that by the time Pyotr Alekseevich ordered the casting of cannons from bells, we already had the relevant experience.
When in the 16th century Protestants were clearing German cathedrals and chapels of “papist rubbish”, the Russians were buying up Catholic bells to melt into guns.
In the 19th century, the Russian Empire was often inferior to the enemy in the quality of small arms, but superior in the quality and quantity of cannon.
During the First World War and in the initial period of the Great Patriotic War, we had problems with weapons. And this led to catastrophic losses in the infantry. In the first case the country never managed to deal with the problem, in the second it succeeded.
THE RUSSIAN ARMY HAS ALWAYS PAID SPECIAL ATTENTION TO ARTILLERY. PHOTO: MAXIM KONSTANTINOV/GLOBAL LOOK PRESS
With us and with them
At the end of 2016, the American expert-analytical center Asymmetric Warfare Group published a review of Russian tactics based on the experience of the battles for Debaltsevo and a series of operations in 2014. It noted the difference between two approaches to the use of artillery:— for the American army it is important to have a relatively small number of long-range and accurate guns ensuring the maneuver of infantry and tanks; – The Russians use tanks, motorized riflemen, snipers and minefields to stop the enemy, deprive him of maneuver and expose him to massive artillery fire guns and rocket systems for salvo fire.
Now those who have followed the course of the Ukrainian counter-offensive on the “Surovikin Line” can decide for themselves how correctly the American specialists have assessed our army.
IN AMERICAN DOCTRINE ARTILLERY PROVIDES MANEUVERS FOR INFANTRY AND TANKS. PHOTO: US ARMY/GLOBAL LOOK PRESS
A blind spot
Despite the fact that artillery has always played a critical role in continental wars, Russia occasionally allows failures in its development.
Before World War I, the empire’s leaders relied on medium-caliber guns. Thirty years later, the Red Army made a mistake in setting priorities, producing many tanks with armored armor without bothering to create normal artillery tractors.
Another failure occurred in the last 30 years. Our military neglected the development of artillery systems on wheeled chassis.
But the lessons learned in a year and a half of a difficult military campaign forced us to reconsider our attitude to this class of artillery and begin to catch up. So what has entered the troops lately?
“Phlox”, successor to “Nona”
One of the most successful artillery units created in the USSR is the 120-mm gun-howitzer-mortar – 2A51. The gun, mounted on a tracked chassis, became known as the Nona-S airborne floating self-propelled artillery.
AIR FLOATING SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLERY INSTALLATION “NONA-S”. PHOTO: OFFICE OF THE SOUTHERN MILITARY DISTRICT/MIL.RU
Its main advantage: it is capable of firing both mortar shells and artillery shells. Thanks to this, it can perform a wide range of tasks to destroy the enemy both with fire from closed positions and with direct fire.
But the realities of the special operation showed: we need guns on a wheeled chassis, capable of striking and immediately leaving the position at high speed. Relatively light and cheap to maintain.
Fortunately, we already had such a product. Already in 2016, the Phlox complex was shown to the general public, which is the same 2A51 mounted on the chassis of the Ural armored all-terrain truck with 6×6 wheels. The car is all-wheel drive on all six of its six wheels.
The system lived for several years as an exhibition wunderwaffe, and at the beginning of October the state corporation Rostech announced the shipment of the first batch of weapons to the troops:
“Thanks to the high rate of fire and relatively low velocity of the projectiles, Phlox is able to fire at the enemy in a fire attack mode, in which the first projectile is fired on the steepest trajectory, and each subsequent one on a more even one.”
All projectiles arrive at the target almost simultaneously, which significantly increases the effectiveness of hitting the support points of the Armed Forces. The enemy does not have time to take cover after the first arrival.
Anti-splinter armor protects the cabin and ammunition boxes, increasing the vehicle’s chances of escaping enemy counter-battery fire.
ROSTEK DELIVERED TO THE TROOPS A BATCH OF 120-MM PHLOX SELF-PROPELLED GUNS. PHOTO: ROSTEC.RU
“Sunshine” on kollela
On October 18, it became known that our units began to use the TOS-2 “Tosochka” heavy flamethrower system at the front. This installation is a further development of “Pinocchio” and the already legendary “Solntsepek”.
The creators of the vehicle moved the block of 220 mm guide tubes from the awkward body of the tank to the three-axle all-wheel drive Ural with an armored cab.
The number of tubes in the package was reduced to 18, Solntsepek had 24, and Pinocchio had 30. However, thanks to the modernization of thermobaric warheads, the burning area increased to six hectares – against four for the predecessor.
TOS-1A “SOLNTSEPEK”. PHOTO: RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE.
The designers of the vehicle have equipped it with a manipulator crane, which allows the Tosochka crew to independently recharge the installation without waiting for the help of a transport-loading vehicle. Thanks to this, the autonomy of the installation increased and camouflage became easier.
“TOSOCKA” HEAVY FIRE PROJECTILE SYSTEM. PHOTO: RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE.
A big gun on a big truck
At the end of October, more good news came: the first batch of Malva wheeled self-propelled guns entered service with the troops, the concept of which was similar to the first two: a well-proven gun based on an all-terrain, lightly armored truck.
“Malva” is a wheeled analogue of the most popular domestic self-propelled gun of today, the tracked “Msta-S”. The complex was created by installing a 152-mm rifled howitzer on the chassis of a Voshchina all-wheel drive car with 8×8 wheels.
Due to the abandonment of the turret and full armor, the vehicle was ten tons lighter than its tracked predecessor. As a result, it handles bridges better and moves faster on dirt roads, plus it doesn’t ruin highway asphalt.
In general, it is an excellent tool for explosively destroying enemy fortifications and quickly escaping from positions.
The task of combating the enemy’s artillery is currently being solved with the help of unmanned kamikaze aircraft, and in the future, apparently, it will be entrusted to the new generation of the Coalition-SV chain self-propelled gun, which recently completed a cycle of state trials.
ROSTEK SENT TO THE TROOPS THE FIRST BATCH OF 152-MM MALVA SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLERY GUNS. PHOTO: ROSTEC.RU
Not instead of, but in addition to
The military expert, the deputy chairman of the Russian Academy of Missile and Artillery Sciences, Doctor of Military Sciences Konstantin Sivkov, in a conversation with an observer of Constantinople, noted that the new systems do not replace the cannons on tracked platforms known to our army, but complement them, expanding the capabilities of our troops.
This is not a transition, but an addition. Have you heard that tracked vehicles are being retired? So I didn’t hear it either. So this is just an addition.
Sivkov noted that the main advantages of wheeled vehicles are:
– ability to move at high speed;
– the service life of the chassis is significantly longer than that of tracked machines;
– significantly lower price of the chassis;
– much greater range and higher fuel efficiency;
– lower cost and easy on-site maintenance.
However, self-propelled systems based on wheeled chassis also have disadvantages that tracked artillery systems do not have.
“Tracked vehicles make it possible to create vehicles that are much heavier, which means they are better armored, with more ammunition and more advanced fire control systems,” says the expert.
“Second: the ability of tracked vehicles to move in difficult weather conditions is higher, he added.
It was these two factors that determined the fact that tracked vehicles were always held in high esteem in the Soviet army.
However, experience shows that the combination of strengths and weaknesses of tracked and wheeled vehicles requires the Army to have both platforms that complement each other.
Wheeled self-propelled guns are particularly effective in a theater of operations with a developed road network, dry soils, and where conditions permit ammunition delivery rather than relying on transportable ammunition.
But in cases where the probability of equipment fire is high, the road conditions are bad, and you have to fight in difficult weather conditions and you have to carry a large amount of ammunition, it is better to use tracked vehicles.
Conclusions for the future
The troops received modern artillery systems. The question arises, when can we expect results?
In order for the “flox”, “slez” and “tosochki” to begin to have a real impact on the balance of forces on the front, it is necessary that the artillery units are saturated with these systems and their use becomes a daily routine. And only then will quantity begin to turn into quality.
This process will likely take about six months. We observed about the same time delay with respect to other advanced systems.
Thus, in February of this year, bombs with universal planning and adjustment modules (UMPK) began to be actively used.
In April, the aerospace force achieved such success that it began to be talked about in the media, and in September, airstrikes cut off the supply of an entire group of the armed forces of Ukraine.
THE VKS ACHIEVED SUCH SUCCESS THAT THEY BEGAN TO BE TALKED ABOUT IN THE MEDIA, AND IN SEPTEMBER AIR STRIKES INTERRUPTED SUPPLIES TO THE ENTIRE GROUP FROM THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE. PHOTO: ARTUR NOVOSILTSEV/AGENCY MOSCOW
It should be noted that the accumulation of new artillery systems in the troops coincides with a large window of opportunity for ammunition: the production of projectiles has increased in our country and is far behind in the West. Overall, 2024 promises to be a year of positive news from the front.
Translation: SM
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