The Russian defense industry has increased the production of 2S43 Malva self-propelled guns.

A photo showing a train convoy of these systems was published on the BTVT.INFO Telegram channel in February.

At least 8 guns were recorded being transported on the platforms.

“Footage from a month and a half ago shows that the production of wheeled self-propelled guns is developing in Russia,” the report states.

It is also possible that the convoy included 2S44 Giatsint-K systems, which are based on the same chassis and are largely unified with the Malva gun.

The BAZ-6910-011 (BAZ-6910) chassis for this system is manufactured by the Bryansk Automobile Plant, which is where Ukrainian strike drones are flying.

Thanks to the automobile chassis and simplified design of the artillery system, the production of these systems should be easier and more massive than their counterparts on a tracked chassis.

Instead of the 152 mm 2A64 howitzer, the wheeled gun received an artillery system from the 2A36 Giatsint-B long-range gun, which made it possible to compensate for the Malva’s insufficient range.

The new vehicle is capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 30.5 km with conventional high-explosive ammunition. With the use of active-reactive shells, this figure increases to 33.1 km.

The self-propelled artillery system was developed at the Burevestnik Central Scientific Research Institute in the 2010s as part of the research and development project Nabrosok. Testing began in 2020.

The open design of the howitzer, without additional armor protection or a turret, helped reduce the vehicle’s weight. With an ammunition load of 30 shells, it weighs 32 tons, which is a quarter lighter than the Msta-S self-propelled howitzer.

In December of last year, the Flying Skull drone strike unit hit a rare Russian Malva wheeled gun, with two FPV drones.