Russia has announced its intention to deploy its latest self-propelled howitzers Koalitsiya-SV in Ukraine. They, as Russia claims, have a serious advantage over the Western artillery, which is currently being used by Ukraine.
Reuters, based on the statements of the head of Rostec, Sergey Chemezov, reports that Russia plans to deploy Koalitsiya-SV howitzers in the war against Ukraine.
2S35 Koalitsiya-SV in a parade in Moscow. Series production of these self-propelled howitzers is just beginning. Image credit: Dmitriy Fomin via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0)
By the way, Reuters initially reported the deployment of these howitzers near Russia’s border with Finland and Norway. This was just a translation error. The Koalitsiya-SV howitzers will be sent to Ukraine, where Russia dreams that they will be superior to any Western systems used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Chemezov said that soon the Koalitsiya-SV howitzers, the serial production of which began only recently, will be deployed in Ukraine. “I think they will appear there soon, since howitzers of this class are needed to provide an advantage over Western artillery models in terms of firing range,” the head of Rostec was quoted as saying.
The Koalitsiya-SV is one of those terribly long Russian projects. In 2015, Russians in Moscow admired the new howitzer, which was supposed to replace the ageing Msta. Previously, they were shown to the public only partially covered. Russia initially announced that their serial production would start in 2016, but it did not start then.
In 2021, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it had signed a contract with UralTransMash for the production of Koalitsiya-SV, but production did not start in 2021 nor in 2022. It was only announced in October 2023 that the Koalitsiya-SV tests were finally completed. Earlier this December, Russian media reported that Koalitsiya-SV howitzers had already been used in the war against Ukraine. But, of course, their number is still very small.
So far the 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV was only seen in parades, but it might be heading to the battlefields in Ukraine very soon. Image credit: Vitaly V. Kuzmin via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The Koalitsiya-SV is a 152.4 mm howitzer weighing about 50-55 tonnes. It is said to have a firing range of 40km using conventional shells, while rocket-assisted rounds will travel up to 80km. In other words, the Koalitsiya-SV can shoot further than Western self-propelled guns. At least the ones used by Ukraine.
In addition, Koalitsiya-SV has an improved pneumatic loading system, and automated controls, so it can fire at a rate of 15 rounds per minute. In theory, the Koalitsiya-SV could get by with a crew of just two people.
Of course, all this is data published by the Russians, so they should be taken with a good dose of skepticism. But this is exactly what Chemezov had in mind when he boasted about the range of the Koalitsiya-SV.
Written by Povilas M.