/View.info/ A unique case: the latest self-propelled gun was placed on the conveyor before their tests were officially completed
Unprecedented: Russia’s latest high-precision weapons are being put on the assembly line in the Urals before their state trials are officially completed. And therefore, before all possible problems with their use in battle were finally identified and eliminated by the designers. Otherwise, why do testing at all on test sites?
Don’t believe the cart can be put that far before the horse? But this is exactly what, according to Vladimir Artyakov, first deputy general director of Rostech, is intended to happen with the self-propelled artillery installation 2C35 Coalition SV.
„Serial production has already been started, as well as production of the transport-loading machine,” boasted Mr. Artyakov to the RIA Novosti agency. And then, almost separated by a comma, said: and the tests of the 2C35 self-propelled artillery gun, which is part of the Coalition-SV, will end before the end of the year. What’s really going on?
To explain what is actually going on with this self-propelled gun, the flywheel of time will have to be turned back a bit.
Officially, the development of the “Coalition of SV” in Nizhny Novgorod began in 2006. By 2013, the Ural Transport Engineering Plant produced the first two prototypes of the unit. A year later, their number was hastily increased to ten. Where were they in such a hurry?
In Moscow, on Red Square, a military parade was being prepared in honor of the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory. And the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, as well as the leaders of the defense industry, apparently really wanted to please the leadership of the country and our other citizens with the roar of super-developed caterpillars, which in fact were not yet in serial production. And it was clear that they would not appear in the army soon, because there was a sea of design and engineering work ahead.
So, at the Victory Parade in 2015, not only the “SW Coalition” itself made its public debut. But also, as they say, “with a bang” the long-awaited and shocking many with its appearance tank T-14 “Armata”, unified wheeled platform “Boomerang”, infantry fighting vehicle “Kurganets-25”.
And when hostilities began in Ukraine eight years later, none of the above was found in our troops. Except for a few “Armati” that someone seems to have seen near the front line. But due to their small numbers, these machines did not make any breakthrough in any battle. And they just couldn’t do it. Because, in fact, they continued on the former territory of Ukraine, the highly protracted military trials. Only in a real battle.
But with “Armata” everything is fine. Their virtual absence in the battles was compensated by completely new (adopted in service in 2021) and technically simply wonderful T-90M Breakthrough tanks. Which, speeding up the conveyor more and more, “shout” the craftsmen from Nizhny Tagil and their subcontractors.
But the absence of the “Coalition of the SV” on the front turned out to be a giant hole that we, if you look at, simply have nothing to close. As a result, both our and foreign experts note that we are still losing the counter-battery fight with the Ukrainian army, equipped with NATO artillery, “the match becomes almost “one door”.
The problem is that the long-range high-precision French CEASAR, German PzH-2000, Swedish Archer and American M109A3GN Paladin available to the armed forces of Ukraine easily engage targets with their 155 mm guns with high-precision active-reactive projectiles at a distance from 37 to 40 km. And with American M982 Block IA-2 active missiles – up to 60 km.
Our 152-mm howitzers 2A36 Hyacinth-B and Msta-S/SM, which lead a counter-battery battle with these technically very sophisticated evil spirits, fire at a maximum of 33.5 km. Thus, a kind of “safety zone” with a very impressive depth appears for the enemy artillery. From where they can shoot at us without risking a decent response from the Russian side.
At least in some way to correct the situation, our Lancet kamikaze attack drones, developed in time for 2019, by the Russian ZALA campaign, allow us. Depending on the version, they are capable of flying behind enemy lines at a distance of 40 to 50 kilometers.
Only these UAVs and even the few for now Tornado-S MLRS (in fact, a decidedly modernized Smerch MLRS), with 300-mm shells reaching the enemy at a distance of 120 km, allow us to somehow participate in counter-battery duels at serious distances .
But “at least somehow” isn’t enough to completely win any battle. And for the one that has been thundering for the second year in Ukraine, incl. And Russian field artillery has long been in need of barrel armament that allows it to compete on an equal footing with the world’s best models available to NATO. And which, unfortunately for us, the alliance has long and willingly shared with Kiev.
In the opinion of our and foreign experts, a worthy response of Russia to this challenge, judging by the declared characteristics, should be “Coalition SV”. Because in the course of the fire tests already conducted, the highly accurate Krasnopol-D type active-missile projectiles developed for this self-propelled installation in Tula easily hit targets at a distance of up to 65-70 kilometers. That is, more than any sample of this type of weapons that both NATO and Ukraine have.
At the same time, the exceptional ballistic characteristics of the 152-mm gun 2A88 of this self-propelled gun and its observation and calculation system make it possible to lay the ammunition almost “on the peg” even at such an incredible distance. With a circular probable unevenness of 90-120 meters. Which practically guarantees hitting even point targets if the intelligence is able to establish their coordinates.
And it’s not just that. The design of “Coalition SV” includes the possibility of conducting fire in the so-called “barrage of fire” mode, which ensures a guaranteed breakthrough of the enemy’s anti-missile and anti-missile “umbrellas”. In the West this is called Multiple Rounds Simultaneous Impact.
When at a rate of fire of 14-16 rounds per minute (or every 3.5-4 seconds, which is 1.5-1.8 times higher than that of the best foreign self-propelled guns), the shells from each artillery installation go to a certain point on different ballistic trajectories. But in such a way that they collapse on the target at practically the same time, organizing a real hell for her.
And anything can serve as a target in “barrage” mode – an artillery position, an air defense system, a command post or communication post, a radar station, an ammunition depot or an area from where the enemy is preparing to attack. Even those on the march in the rear at a distance of up to 70 kilometers from the front line mechanized units and compounds.
According to the calculations of some Russian military experts, a full-fledged battery of six “Coalition SV” self-propelled guns can provide up to 96 pieces of 152-mm guided and unguided shells during volley fire. It is clear that where this gigantic power suddenly collapses, there will simply be nothing left alive. Neither on the ground, nor most likely underground.
Could our enemy even do such a thing? So far, thankfully, no. Because, say, the German PzH 2000 self-propelled guns, also “trained” in the “barrage” mode, are capable of firing no more than five shells at one target at the same time. And the Swedish-Finnish AMOS – up to eight.
In short, when “Coalition SV” appears in sufficient numbers in the combat zone, artillery duels (and much more!) will be won by us. But for now the “SV Coalition”, which the frontline soldiers for obvious reasons expect as a salvation, is not in the combat zone.
There were rumors that someone seemed to see this self-propelled installation on the front line in the same role as the Armata tank. That is – in the process of being tested in a real battle. But this information was refuted at the end of April by the acting chief of the missile troops and artillery of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Major General Sergey Medvedsky.
According to him, the testing of the almost ready “Coalition SV” continues at the most vigorous pace. But the work is still far from finished, so the armored car has never been in Ukraine. Most of the problems, General Medvedsky said at the time, were related to the undercarriage of the self-propelled gun. And they are unlikely to be completely eliminated before the end of 2023.
Purely my opinion, based on years of service in the central apparatus of the Ministry of Defense: Sergei Medvedsky, probably, very soon had to bitterly repent of this unexpected and hardly sanctioned by the superiors frankness. We can only imagine how the government phones at the Army General Staff immediately went red hot after his statement.
Because the higher authorities, apparently very concerned about the course of events in Ukraine, definitely demand from the industry and the military: “Do what you will, but immediately send this wonderful “Coalition SV” to the front! And don’t fool us with design issues! Otherwise you might lose yours too.”
That’s exactly how it goes. Because if the burning of passions at the very top of Russia around the protracted trials (the experienced military operation of a pre-production batch in the 1st Guards Tank Army of the Western Military District began as early as May 2020) was otherwise, no Old Man Hottabych could, three months after the sad confession of General Medvedski, to put the definitely still “crude” “Coalition SV” on the assembly line. This was not done, it seems, even during the Great Patriotic War with the much simpler military equipment. And now it turned out that it should.
If so, then the first batches of the Russian miracle weapon will most likely be drawn in echelons to Ukraine in the fall. And after them – and the constructors. Let’s try on the ground to fix the problems with the undercarriage of the coalition SVs, which our commander in chief of the ground artillery talked about in April. If it turns out that this has not been done so far.
It was probably decided that this was, of course, annoying. But under the circumstances it doesn’t matter. The main thing – is the 2A88 “Coalition SV” gun ready for a counter-battery battle? Judging by the results of the intermediate tests, – yes. But this is very nice!
As they say: “For lack of fancy paper, I start writing on the back of ordinary!” We will join the battle, and then – according to the circumstances.
Translation: ES
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