/ world today news/ Russian industry is ready for mass production of the most important system – the self-propelled artillery installation “Coalition-SV”. This type of weapon has qualities that can radically change the situation on the front. But first, manufacturers must resolve several critical issues.
„Our metrics are lower’
Military and analysts have repeatedly noted that Russian artillery is significantly inferior to that of NATO in a number of characteristics. First of all, in terms of scope.
“We don’t have many guns that can compare with Western-made 155mm howitzers,” explains an officer from the 1st Army Corps with the call sign “Klim”. “Only the self-propelled gun “Malka” beats at 47 kilometers. The others less so,” he adds.
The main self-propelled howitzer “Msta-S” hits targets at a distance of up to 29 kilometers, and the American M777, the Polish “Krab” and the French “Caesar” – at 30-40. With high-precision projectiles – up to 70.
As a result, as the military notes, sometimes counterbattery attacks simply don’t happen. After the appearance on the front of cluster munitions from the United States, the situation became even more complicated.
Drones: good but unreliable
However, this does not mean that Western weapons have nothing to oppose at all. UAVs, both reconnaissance and strike, play a huge role in counter-battery warfare. Sometimes both functions are combined. The other day, the company commander of the 92nd separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Yury Fedorenko, complained about the superiority of Russian forces in this niche.
“The drones work as long as the battery lasts, in standby mode. They wait for our combat vehicle, firearm or something else to appear and attack,” he explained to Ukrainian media.
Particularly effective are the “Lancet” ammunition, capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 50 kilometers. And newer versions are around 70.
However, unmanned systems have drawbacks – in particular, a lack of skilled operators and vulnerability to radio-electronic warfare means.
“Artillery is much more reliable in this regard, says Klim. “We need guns with a range of at least 40 kilometers to be on par with the VSU,” he is convinced.
“There are no analogues”
Great hopes are placed on “Coalition-SV” with an effective firing range of 70-80 kilometers.
Rate of fire – more than ten shots per minute (according to some sources up to 16). This is a record for self-propelled howitzers.
The system is fully automated – “practically a combat robot”, as expressed by Behan Ozdoev, industrial director of the complex for conventional weapons, ammunition and special chemicals at the state corporation “Rostech”.
A three-man crew (commander, driver and gunner) controls the firing in an isolated armored capsule. The turret, which holds 70 rounds of ammunition, is mounted on the chassis of a T-90 tank.
The state corporation “Rostech” has already completed the state tests of the machine. All unique characteristics, according to Ozdoev, were confirmed.
The world’s largest double-barreled cannon
The history of self-propelled guns dates back to the era of the arms race, when the Western and Eastern blocs competed in the range and rate of fire of artillery pieces.
In the late 1980s, the USSR adopted the Msta-S howitzer, which at the time was quite competitive. But in the 1990s, NATO adopted a “Joint Ballistics Memorandum” with new standards for 155 mm guns: a range of 30 kilometers for high-explosive shells and 40 for active-reactive ones.
The ball was in the court of the Russian defense industry, but due to the collapse of the 1990s, we missed our turn. Development resumed in the 2000s.
The self-propelled gun was named “Coalition” because of its double barrel, designed to provide a high rate of fire. But this construction was considered too unreliable. Moreover, as they say, approximately the same characteristics were achieved with a single barrel.
The new machine was shown for the first time at the Victory Parade in 2015. Five years later, several samples entered the army. Nothing is known about the use of “Coalition-SV” in the Ukrainian conflict.
Special ammunition
The representative of “Rostech” did not specify when the production will start and with what capacity.
And there is an important nuance. Despite the Russian artillery standard of 152 mm caliber, the self-propelled gun is not suitable for Soviet-type projectiles, which are stored and produced in the country in huge quantities.
The coalition has special ammunition – they allow him to reach such a range. Now the defense industry will have to quickly establish the production of new projectiles.
However, the success of counterbattery work depends not only on weapons. High-quality intelligence and reliable communications are very important – Russia, for example, uses the latest radar systems.
Let us note that evaluations of the results of counterbattery confrontation are largely subjective. For obvious reasons, none of the parties publishes data on losses. The effectiveness of the artillery can be judged by the general situation at the front, where, despite the promises of Kiev, the promised “breakthroughs” never happened. At least for now.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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