The state acceptance trials of the wheeled 152mm 2S43 “Malva” ACS were successfully completed in Russia.

The Russian media announced this.

It is reported that the development of self-propelled guns was launched at the Central Research Institute “Burevestnik” as part of the “Nabrosok” R&D efforts in the 2010s. The testing of the system started in 2020.

Now, upon completion of the tests, Russian media report preparations for serial production of a self-propelled howitzer for their armed forces.

The self-propelled howitzer was initially planned to be armed with a new 2А88 long-range gun with a 52-caliber barrel length, as in the Koalitsiya-SV self-propelled gun prototypes. However, this does not seem to have happened.

2S43 is armed with a 152-mm 2А64 gun, already deployed in the Msta-S self-propelled howitzer and its towed Msta-B variant. The gun has a rifled 47-caliber-long barrel, and its breech has a semi-automatic wedge breechblock.

The artillery system uses standard Soviet ammunition with separate loading. The powered rammer was integrated to load them into the gun.

The maximum range of the howitzer’s fire with conventional HE-Frag projectiles is 24.7 km and about 29 km with rocket-assisted shells.

“Malva” is developed on a modified chassis of a Russian BAZ-6910 truck with an 8×8 wheel formula. Its weight is 21 tons. The vehicle’s cabin is armored and able to protect against light infantry weapons and debris.

The ACS is equipped with a 470 hp YaMZ-8492.10-033 diesel engine, which provides a maximum speed of up to 80 km per hour. The driving range is 1000 kilometers.

The howitzer’s open mounting without additional armor protection or turret made the vehicle lighter. With a 30-shell ammunition package, it weighs 32 tons. This is a quarter lighter than the tracked Msta-S ACS.

The use of a wheeled chassis should increase the self-propelled gun’s mobility and provide it with the ability to independently move over long distances on public roads without being tied to tank tractor trawls.