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Laos Unveils Ural-mounted D-30 122mm Wheeled Howitzer

The Lao People`s Armed Forces (LPAF) receive a new self-propelled howitzer (SPH) armed with the Soviet-/Russian-made D-30A 122 mm howitzer on the chassis of the Ural-4320 6x6 all-terrain truck, the press department of the LPAF said.

LPAF Ural-mounted D-30 122mm Howitzer. (Picture source: Soha News )

"The military is taking the deliveries of the new 122 mm SPH that is armed with the D-30A gun. The weapon will boost the combat capacity of mechanized infantry," the LPAF said in a statement. The military did not disclose the number of new guns to be delivered to its mechanized units.

A source from the LPAF told TASS that the troops would receive some 100 SPHs. "The armed forces now lack firepower. The delivery of these artillery systems will allow the military to increase its field fire support capabilities in a rapid manner," he said. According to the source, the SPH is not fitted with a digital fire control system (FCS). "It is just a D-30A howitzer mounted on the Ural-4320 truck. The system carries no optical-electronic units; however, it can be coupled to an automated FCS," he said.

The 122 mm D-30A howitzer is an updated variant of the world-known D-30. The D-30A is intended for destruction of manpower, hardware, engineering installations, artillery systems and mechanized units. According to the official specifications, the howitzer has a range of fire of 4-15.3 km, a rate of fire of six to eight rounds per minute, an elevation angle between -7° and +70°, a traverse angle of 360°, a combat weight of 3,200 kg, and a crew of six servicemen.