New 2S43 Malva Howitzers bolster Russian forces on the Ukrainian front

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 caliber Malva wheeled self-propelled howitzers to the 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 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 caliber 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 has a long firing range. This range is about 15 miles for standard ammunition, but with extended-range ammunition, it increases to about 22 miles.

"The howitzers are designed to destroy command posts, defensive structures, artillery and missile systems, air defense systems, columns of armored vehicles, and enemy personnel," the designers of the 2S43 Malva write about this weapon.

The complete system can reach a combat weight of up to 70,000 lbs. The vehicle is equipped with an engine generating up to 470 horsepower, allowing it to move at speeds of up to 50 mph. It has an operational range of up to 680 miles. In the field, the 2S43 Malva can overcome vertical obstacles up to about 2 feet and trenches up to about 7 feet 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 being used on the Ukrainian front.