Russia to complete first stage of Lotos 2S42 artillery system

The working design documentation on the advanced 2S42 Lotos 120mm self-propelled artillery system will be fully prepared before the end of the month, CEO of Russia’s Central Research Institute for Precision Machine-Building (TsNIITochMash) Dmitry Semizorov told TASS.

Scale model of Russian project 2S42 Lotos 120mm self-propelled mortar carrier for airborne troops at Army-2017, the International Military Technical Forum (September 2017)

"The first stage, during which the working design documentation will be prepared, will be completed in September," Semizorov said.

"We are expected to fully develop the system in 2019 and then hold its state trials with the advanced Zavet-D artillery control vehicle," he added.

The Lotos is a derivative of the Zauralets project and is expected to replace it. Under the Zauralets project, a new self-propelled artillery system for the Airborne Force was planned to be developed.

As Semizorov said earlier, a 120mm weapon will be the Lotos system’s main armament. Its artillery round will be heavily upgraded. It will be almost on a par with a 152mm round by its power.

According to TsNIITochMash’s CEO, the military ordered to launch the serial production of the promising self-propelled system in 2020.

A scale model of the 2S42 Lotos was presented for the first time on the booth of the Russian Ministry of Defense at Army-2017, the International Military Technical Forum which was held near Moscow in August 2017.