The 2S4 Tyulpan is a Soviet self-propelled heavy 240 mm mortar. An important artillery weapon for Russian forces in Ukraine. Before the war, Russia had about 390 Tyulpan mortars left, but most of them were in storage, waiting for a new war that Russia was inevitably going to start. And now they are disappearing as soon as they appear on the screens of Ukrainian drone operators.
The 2S4 Tyulpan is a heavy 240 mm mortar. One of its projectiles weighs at least 130 kg. Image credit: Mil.ru via Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0)
The Tyulpan started its service in 1972. Production of these self-propelled mortars continued until 1988, which means that even the youngest Tyulpans are now quite old. However, the Russians use them very actively, because the shots of Tyulpan are devastating.
The Tyulpan is a 240 mm mortar mounted on a tracked 2S3 Akatsiya chassis. This 30-tonne machine can carry 40 standard mortar shells inside, which a crew of five can handle. The Tyulpan accelerates to 62 km/h. and is a fairly mobile artillery piece that the defenders of Ukraine hate.
Here’s how Tyulpan mortars are disappearing in the Donetsk region:
Another Russian 2S4 Tyulpan 240mm self-propelled heavy mortar demilitarised by the “Shadow” unit. Donetsk area.
(48.1518611, 37.8714722)https://t.co/OnIiHlxvCL https://t.co/Dza8gMdzmR pic.twitter.com/REmPbuxzFU— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) January 4, 2024
The Tyulpan is huge. The standard projectile 53-F-864 weighs about 130 kg. It is pushed into the barrel through the breach with a special device. Such a projectile, usually aimed at trenches, shelters and buildings, has a range of about 10 km.
As usual for mortars, the Tyulpan fires at a fairly high trajectory, so the projectiles fall down quite steeply. Smaller mortars became popular during the First World War because they were trying to hit the bottom of enemy trenches – something conventional howitzers cannot do because they shoot in a flatter, lower trajectory.
The Tyulpan can also fire a heavier 228 kg projectile ARM-0-3WF2, which has a range of 18 km thanks to its rocket stage. In fact, the Tyulpan can fire even a 2-kiloton nuclear projectile, which was developed in secret and has an undisclosed range.
The Tyulpan is not some sort of a magic weapon. Although its projectiles are very large and powerful, the Tyulpan can only fire a single shot per minute. This very slow rate of fire is due to the fact that its projectiles are very heavy and the barrel must be lowered to a horizontal position each time for loading.
In total, in a period of 20 years, the Soviets produced 588 Tyulpan self-propelled mortars. A few were handed over to Czechoslovakia, a few – to Iraq, Kazakhstan and Syria. But Russia kept the majority of these artillery pieces.
By the time of the 2022 invasion in Ukraine, Russia had 390 Tyulpan self-propelled mortars, but perhaps only 40 were in active service. As soon as the war started, Russia began pulling the older Tyulpan mortars from storage, but they usually get destroyed pretty quickly in Ukraine.
Written by Povilas M.
Sources: bayraktar_1love Twitter, Wikipedia