Russians develop unique self-propelled gun
18:39|07/ 12/ 2006
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Viktor Litovkin) – Do you
know what the word "Msta" means? If not, you can surf the Internet,
and you will find that the Msta is a 445-km river flowing through the
Tver and Novgorod Regions in western Russia. This river flows into
Lake Ilmen and links it with Lake Mstino.
The Msta River basin, with an area of 23,200 square kilometers, is
part of the Vyshny Volochok water system. Moreover, the river itself
is navigable 134 kilometers from its mouth.
However, the word "Msta" takes on an entirely different meaning if you
ask a Russian artillery officer about it. He will tell you that the
152-mm Msta-S (index 2S19) is a self-propelled howitzer, and the
Msta-B (index 2A65) is a towed artillery system.
Both guns are intended to destroy tactical nuclear artillery and
mortar batteries, tanks and other armored vehicles, as well as
military personnel, air-defense weapons, anti-ballistic missiles and
command centers. They can also destroy field fortifications and hinder
the movement of enemy reserves miles behind the frontline.
These artillery pieces can hit visible targets point blank and from
indirect firing positions; invisible targets are also easily
destroyed.
Msta howitzers and artillery systems are among the Russian Army’s best
weapons.
The reader may be interested to know that howitzers have an elevation
angle of more than 45 degrees and can fire over high obstacles, the
way mortars do.
Msta-S howitzers, which were quite popular at the international arms
fairs in Nizhny Tagil and Omsk, also stole the limelight in Le Bourget
near Paris and in the United Arab Emirates.
This howitzer caused quite a stir in Abu Dhabi after firing 40 rounds
of ammunition from indirect positions at a target 15 km away in the
presence of experts from 20 countries.
Although the gun layer could not see the target, 38 shells weighing
43.5 kg each hit the bull’s eye, while two others exploded not more
than 25 meters away from the target’s center. Any artilleryman will
tell you that this is an excellent result because shell fragments will
destroy everything within a 25-meter radius.
Experts are impressed with the Msta-S howitzer’s high accuracy and
rate of fire. This howitzer fires eight to ten shells in 60 seconds,
which is more than any other known artillery piece, including the
U.S. Army’s M-109 howitzer with a caliber of 155 mm, which is the
Msta-S’s counterpart in terms of its specifications and combat
designation.
Yury Tomashov, who designed the Msta-S howitzer and who received the
title of Hero of Labor (and the Gold Star medal) for this achievement,
discussed its remarkable rate of fire with RIA Novosti.
Tomashov noted that the Msta-S features an automatic loading
system. Its 50 high-explosive, fragmentation, cluster, anti-tank,
anti-radar and other special-purpose shells are stored on ammunition
trays inside the turret. A mechanical conveyor, which feeds them into
the breech, can also be used while the gun is being loaded from the
ground.
Unlike the M-109, the Msta-S can be loaded at any angle of
elevation. Its barrel returns to the initial position immediately
after firing for greater accuracy and efficiency.
Tomashov said U.S. and British soldiers had to sweat it out and carry
a lot of shells during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, code-named Operation
Iraqi Freedom. The air-conditioned Russian artillery system features
an elevator for easier loading.
He said the Msta-S crew works inside an armored turret shielding them
from shell fragments and large-caliber bullets, as well as chemical
and bacteriological weapons and radiation. A special pressurized
filter system purifies and decontaminates the ambient air and traps
powder gases outside the combat compartment. An airtight jacket
encasing the breech also traps powder gases and leaves the air fresh
and clean.
According to Tomashov, the howitzer’s fire-control system is its main
advantage. The system, which receives intelligence and
target-acquisition data, operates in conjunction with computer
networks and ensures a high firing accuracy.
Yury Butrin, general designer of the Uraltransmash holding company,
which produces Msta-S howitzers, said the fire-control system also
includes a ballistic computer, an automatic laying device, a
topographic surveying unit and a GLONASS or GPS receiver for
high-precision navigation.
This system, which stores data on the ten previous combat missions at
minimum, is linked with an observation post and Pchela (Bee)-type
unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as A-50 Mainstay early warning and
control aircraft similar to NATO’s AWACS planes.
The Kapustnik command-and-control vehicle feeds target coordinates
into the fire-control system, which then delivers a devastating strike
against enemy positions.
The Msta-S howitzer can fire 152-mm and 155-mm laser-guided Krasnopol
shells and Santimetr semi-active homing shells.
The howitzer’s modified 155-mm version can be exported to other
countries, including India, which still produces Western
European-caliber munitions, a legacy of centuries of British colonial
rule.
The Msta-S has the same undercarriage as the T-80 main battle tank.
Moreover, its 840-h.p. V-shaped internal-combustion engine can run on
six types of diesel fuel. The 42-metric-ton howitzer can move through
deserts at 60 kph on its 580-mm wide rubber-and-metal
treads. Furthermore, it does not require spikes for greater accuracy
because the gun-stabilization system resets firing data and target
coordinates after each shot.
Neither Tomashov nor Butrin were able to explain why the Msta-S
self-propelled gun, which was developed in the Ural Region, is named
after a river flowing further to the west.
Other Uraltransmash experts said the Soviet Defense Ministry’s
Rocketry/Artillery Directorate (Russian acronym "GRAU") had issued a
request for proposal (RFP) in the early 1980s and designated this
weapons system the GRAU 2S19.
However, to avoid mentioning this secret name in everyday life,
someone probably decided to call it the Msta either as a reminder of a
good vacation that he had spent on the Msta River, or in order to
mislead foreign spies. Indeed, why the Msta in the Urals? But the
name stuck.
Colonel General Zaritsky, head of the Russian Armed Forces’ missile
and artillery unit, said the Russian Army will receive about 2,000 new
artillery pieces, mostly revamped Msta-S howitzers, between now and
2015.