Latest Russian 2S43 Malva SPG Spotted on Battlefield for First Time

The latest Russian 2S43 Malva 152mm self-propelled gun was spotted on the battlefield for the first time.

The corresponding photo was released by Kriegsforscher, the Marine and OSINT researcher, on his X page.

It is reported that Malva, which belongs to the 9th Artillery Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, was discovered by a long-range reconnaissance drone in the Belgorod oblast.

Recall that the Russian army received the first batch of these self-propelled guns in October 2023, and earlier, in July, Malva completed a three-year cycle of state tests.

2S43 Malva

It is known that the development of self-propelled guns began to be carried out at the Central Research Institute “Burevestnik” in the 2010s as part of the “Nabrosok” R&D project. Testing of the SPG began in 2020.

2S43 is armed with a 2A64 152mm rifled gun with a 47 calibers barrel length. It is also used in the design of the Msta-S self-propelled howitzers and its towed Msta-B variant.

The maximum range of howitzer fire with conventional high-explosive projectiles is 24.7 km and about 29 km with rocket-assisted shells.

Similar weapons, for example, the French Caesar or the Ukrainian Bohdana self-propelled guns, thanks to their longer barrels, are able to fire at a distance of up to 40 kilometers.

The open installation of the howitzer without additional armor protection or turret made it possible to facilitate the system. With 30 shells of ammunition, its weight is 32 tons. This is a quarter lighter than the tracked Msta-S.

Self-propelled guns are built on the chassis of a BAZ-6010-027 truck, which reduces the cost and accelerates the pace of its production.