The Russian Armed Forces have received new 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV 152mm self-propelled howitzers artillery vehicle based on tracked armored chassis, according to the Russian newspaper Red Star (Krasnaya Zvezda), on May 22, 2020.
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Russian army 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV 152mm self-propelled howitzer on tracked armored chassis. (Picture source Army Recognition)

“The 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV 152 mm self-propelled guns (SPGs) and the Msta-SM 152 mm self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) have been delivered to the troops under the State Defense Order,” says the newspaper in infographics. No further details on the deliveries of the SPGs and SPHs were provided.

In December 2019, the press department of the Western Military District (WMD) reported that the first batch of the Koalitsiya-SV SPGs would arrive to the Alabino range (the Moscow Region) of a district’s guards tank army. “Several tests of the newest artillery systems will be conducted at the range at an early date. The tank army’s servicemen have already been re-trained to operate these vehicles,” said the press department on December 20.

In October 2016, the WMD’s press department announced a proposed delivery of 10 Koalitsiya-SV SPGs to the district’s 1st Tank Army. However, no delivery schedule was issued at that moment.

According to the military, the 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV SPG is designed to engage command posts, communications hubs, artillery and mortar batteries, armored vehicles (including tanks), anti-tank weapons, air, and missile defense systems, and manpower. The SPG is fitted with a 152 mm gun with a rate of fire of more than 10 rounds per minute and a firing range of up to 70 km. The artillery system additionally carries a remotely operated weapon station with a Kord heavy machinegun. The Koalitsiya-SV features fully automated reloading procedures.

The SPG can employ its automated fire-control system to select a target and to aim the main gun. “The system is capable of firing both guided artillery projectiles [GAPs] and high explosive fragmentation [HE-Frag] rounds,” noted the military. The firing trajectory is adjusted through the medium of the GLONASS navigation system. The Koalitsiya-SV is supplied by a transport-reloading vehicle that carries a containerized loader with two conveyers for rounds and propellant charges, respectively. “The activation of the Koalitsiya-SV SPG will speed up the firing rate of artillery units by two to three times. The reloading time will be dramatically reduced, resulting in an increase of firepower effectiveness,” said the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in a news release.

The 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV SPG broke its cover at the Army 2018 international military-technical forum held in Kubinka near Moscow in August 2018. The MoD also said the deliveries of the Koalitsiya-SV artillery systems to the troops would start before the end of 2020.

Russian 2S33 MSTA-SM2 152mm tracked self-propelled howitzer in a live demonstration at Defense Exhibition in Nizhny Tagil, Russia (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The Russian military’s artillery units are now receiving the upgraded 2S33 Msta-SM 152 mm SPHs. The artillery system is armed with the 2A65 152 mm howitzer with a rate of fire of more than 10 rounds per minute. According to the MoD, the gun is fitted with a modernized loader.

The Msta-SM appears to be replacing legacy Msta variants (in particular, the Msta-S) and the 2S3 Akaciya (Acacia) SPHs.

Both Koalitsiya-SV and Msta-SM are produced by the concern Uralvagonzavod (UVZ, a subsidiary of state corporation Rostec). It should be mentioned that the Msta-SM is a versatile artillery system that can be easily reconfigured. In late March, Russia’s arms exporting company Rosoboronexport (a subsidiary of Rostec) unveiled a modification of the Msta-SM that had been chambered for STANAG 4425-compatible 155 mm ammunition.