Author: Alexey Zakvasin
Artillery and flowers originally had nothing to do with each other. But now, whenever Russian artillery is mentioned, the "flower names" of powerful artillery such as "carnation, acacia, tulip, peony, hyacinth..." will always come to people's minds.
A 2C1 Hyacinth self-propelled artillery unit of the Donetsk People's Republic in Mariupol .丨Picture source: RIA Novosti
55 years ago, on July 4, 1967, the Soviet Council of Ministers passed Decree No. 609-201 on the creation of four new self-propelled artillery systems, and the history of the "Flower" artillery also began. Kicked off. These artillery pieces with beautiful "flower names" not only made great contributions to ensuring the security of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, but they are still serving Russia and constantly improving today.
Major Sergei Suvorov, candidate of military science and military author, said in an interview with RT: "The development of the combat 'Flowers' project by the Soviet government injected a second life into the development of domestic artillery that was lagging behind the West at that time. . "At that time, the Soviet top brass devoted a lot of resources to "rocketization" and ignored other strike methods such as "artillery." "Missile victory" became the mainstream view among the Soviet top leaders at that time. However, after experiencing some conflicts, war games and exercises, practice has proved that "missile victory" is a very wrong judgment.
Self-propelled artillery and Self-propelled mortars
After the promulgation of Decree No. 609-201, four "fancy" artillery models codenamed "Carnation", "Violet", "Acacia" and "Tulip" were put on the agenda , the "Fancy" artillery family has added 4 new projects - "Aster", "Lily of the Valley", "Peony" and "Hyacinth".
2S3 "Acacia" self-propelled artillery installation was functionally tested after being overhauled by servicemen of the Maintenance and Recovery Regiment of the Russian Armed Forces in the Ukrainian Special Military Operations Zone.丨Picture source: RIA Novosti
In the late 1960s, the Soviet Union launched 8 "fancy" artillery tank projects at the same time. Later, the "Aster", "Lily of the Valley" and "Violet" projects were suspended, but experimental development was still retained . The remaining five "fancy" artillery pieces were adopted by the Soviet Armed Forces and put into mass production.
The first "fancy" self-propelled artillery in service was the "Carnation". In 1972, the first batch of "Carnation" self-propelled artillery mass-produced by the Kharkiv Tractor Plant was delivered to the Soviet Army and Marine Corps.
The "Carnation" is a combination of the D-30 towed howitzer and the PT-76 amphibious tank. Engineers installed the D-30 howitzer on the chassis of the PT-76 amphibious tank, creating a vehicle that not only has a 122 mm caliber gun A new generation of self-propelled artillery with powerful firepower and the off-road and protective capabilities of the tank . "Carnation" can use D-30 howitzer ammunition. In addition, in order to more accurately hit various targets, including moving targets, the "Carnation" can also launch "Kilotov-2" laser-guided artillery shells.
After the "Carnation", the more powerful "Acacia" began to enter service with the Soviet armed forces. This is a self-propelled artillery system developed on the basis of the D-20 towed howitzer, with 40 rounds of ammunition built into the body (later modified (prepared for 46 rounds), and was the first in the world to equip a self-propelled artillery with ammunition racks and a highly mechanized and automated loading process.
"Simple operation and reliable performance" are the praises won by the "Tulip" self-propelled mortar for its own strength. The 240 mm caliber "Tulip" self-propelled mortar is considered an unparalleled masterpiece of Soviet artillery scientists. Its ultra-large caliber is mainly used to destroy frontline buildings, fortifications and eliminate the enemy's effective forces. "Tulip" has also been continuously upgraded and modified after the baptism of several wars, and it still plays an important firepower role in today's special military operations.
On the road near the border between the Belgorod region and Ukraine , a 2S4 "Tulip" self-propelled mortar is in the Russian military equipment fleet.丨Picture source: RIA Novosti
What often acts together with the "Tulip" is her "fancy" sister - the "Peony" self-propelled artillery. The "Peony" 203mm self-propelled artillery is in service with the Soviet Army and is in mass production. The largest caliber self-propelled artillery ("Tulip" is a self-propelled mortar), driven by hydraulic and electric systems. The "Peony" self-propelled artillery can not only fire standard artillery shells, rocket-propelled high-explosive shells, chemical artillery shells, special charge artillery shells, but also has the ability to launch tactical nuclear artillery shells!
The "Hyacinth" self-propelled artillery is one of the most active self-propelled artillery today. The "Hyacinth" uses the GMZ armored minelayer chassis and is equipped with a dozer blade, which allows the vehicle to clear the ground on its own without the support of engineering equipment. Obstacles or fortifications. Because "Hyacinth" adopts a lighter chassis and is equipped with a 520-horsepower four-cylinder turbocharged engine, the road speed can reach 70 km/h. At the same time, the "Hyacinth" was the longest-range self-propelled artillery before the debut of the "Soyuz-SV" self-propelled artillery in 2015. The range of special-charge artillery shells can reach 30km, and it also has the ability to launch tactical nuclear artillery shells.
Today, all types of self-propelled artillery have also undergone modern modifications and configurations, allowing them to better adapt to various situations in modern information-based military conflicts. The emergence of new communication and information links, more modern optoelectronic equipment, newer artillery shells, and more advanced reconnaissance methods.
Major Suvorov noted: “The use of UAVs in conjunction with self-propelled artillery significantly increases its potential.” Materials from the Russian Ministry of Defense also pointed out that drones make it possible to achieve high-precision projectiles at long distances.
In special military operations, the repeated cooperation between drones and self-propelled artillery has also proved that these "fancy" and "old sister" artillery that have been born for half a century can still play an important role in modern military conflicts.
