The Russian army has begun using a new, unknown wheeled self-propelled artillery system, which is probably a modification of the 2S43 Malva 152mm self-propelled howitzer.

Russian media published on this.

According to the video, the new self-propelled howitzer is based on the armored chassis of the Bryansk Automobile Plant BAZ-6010-027 with an 8×8 wheel formula, which in turn is a modification of the BAZ-6910 truck. It is also used on the 2S43 Malva.

In general, the new self-propelled howitzer has a similar layout to the 2S43, and probably uses all the same elements as the Malva, including the guidance system, except for the artillery part.

The new self-propelled howitzer, instead of the 152 mm 2A64 howitzer, which, in addition to the Malva, is already used by the Msta-S self-propelled howitzer and its towed version, the Msta-B, received a gun from the 2A36 Giatsint-B long-range gun.

This increased the maximum range of the self-propelled howitzer with conventional high-explosive munitions from 24.7 km to 30.5 km and with active-reactive shells from 29 km to 33.1 km.

In addition to armor, the vehicle is also protected, as stated in the video, by standard anti-drone screens made of fabric and an electronic warfare system.

New self-propelled howitzer with an old cannon

However, according to an expert in armored vehicles, Andrii Tarasenko, according to the video, the new self-propelled howitzer does not use a new gun based on the 2A36, but rather a Giatsint-B gun mounted on a new chassis that was taken from storage. This can be seen by the characteristic mounting of the stopper.

In addition, the video shows the mounts for the sight and manual guidance system, which are missing, similar to the Giatsint-B gun.

The use of a gun taken from storage is also confirmed by the use of a loading system with an original booster, which differs from the semi-automatic system on the Malva.

However, it is not known whether this simplification and the use of a stored artillery unit was used only for the first prototype. Or whether a similar approach could also be used for production vehicles. However, it is worth noting that new 2A36 guns are not currently being produced in Russia.

Their production was concentrated at the Motovilikhinskie Zavody enterprise, which has been in bankruptcy since 2018. In 2023, its production facilities were bought by the Remdizel armored vehicle manufacturing company.

Another feature of systems based on the 2A36 gun is that, despite sharing the same 152 mm caliber as other Soviet-era and post-Soviet systems, they are not compatible with them in terms of ammunition and require the production of their own line of shells and charges.