New Russian 2S43 Malva howitzers bolster Ukrainian frontlines
Ukrainian media are highlighting the delivery of the 2S43 Malva howitzers to the Russian army. This is the latest artillery system produced by the Russians. What are its capabilities?
The Ukrainian portal Militarnyj, among others, reports that the Russian army has been strengthened with the 2S43 Malva howitzers. It cites information provided by the Russian corporation Rostec, which announced that it "delivered a batch of the latest 152 mm calibre Malva wheeled self-propelled howitzers to the army."
2S43 Malva for the Russian army
Tests of this artillery system only concluded last year. As noted by Łukasz Michalik, a journalist for Wirtualna Polska, it is a revolutionary system for the Russian army. Unlike older types of this weapon produced in the USSR and Russia, it is equipped with a wheeled chassis, which provides it with high mobility. Rostec uses the BAZ-6010-027 8×8 military truck chassis for this purpose.
However, the most important element of the 2S43 Malva is the 2A64 152 mm calibre howitzer, which has a magazine that holds 30 rounds of ammunition. Publicly available information indicates that it provides a rate of fire of 7-8 rounds per minute and a long firing range. This range is about 24 kilometres for standard ammunition, but with extended-range ammunition, it increases to about 35 kilometres.
"The howitzers are designed to destroy command posts, defensive structures, artillery and missile systems, air defence systems, columns of armoured vehicles, and enemy personnel," the designers of the 2S43 Malva write about this weapon.
New weapon on the Ukrainian front
The complete system reaches a combat weight of up to 32,000 kilograms. The vehicle is equipped with an engine generating up to 470 horsepower, allowing it to move at speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour. It has an operational range of up to 1,094 kilometres. In the field, the 2S43 Malva can overcome vertical obstacles up to about 0.6 metres and trenches up to about 2 metres wide.
Rostec has not disclosed the size of the 2S43 Malva howitzers delivered to the Russian army. Ukrainians are noting this fact for a reason. At the beginning of June, the latest Russian artillery system joined the ranks of weapons used on the Ukrainian front.
