Russia's 2S43 Malva howitzer may face first combat loss
Published on the X platform, the photos suggest that in the Kursk region, the Russians lost their latest artillery system – the 2S43 Malva howitzer. If this loss is confirmed, it would be the first howitzer of this type lost by the Russian army.
2S43 Malva is the latest Russian combat-used, barrel artillery system of 152 mm caliber. Its prototype was presented in 2020, and in 2024, its combat use was recorded for the first time in the Belgorod region. The Malvas participated, among others, in shelling Ukrainian positions in the Kursk region.
The photos of the destroyed howitzer reportedly come from this region. They show what Defence 24 analyzes as a vehicle resembling the Russian 2S43 Malva howitzer. It is burned, but the structure was not shattered, which, according to Defence 24, suggests an attack by an FPV drone. The open doors of the vehicle also imply that at least part of the crew managed to evacuate.
Reports about the destruction of the Malva have not been confirmed yet and are based on several difficult-to-verify photographs. However, if the Russian weapon was indeed destroyed, it is probably the first combat loss of this system.
The primacy of western artillery
The 2S43 Malva is a Russian self-propelled howitzer mounted on a wheeled chassis. This design choice reduces the system's weight compared to artillery on tracked chassis, facilitating air transport. The Malva weighs about 35 tons (77,161 pounds), while the tracked 2S19 Msta-S howitzer weighs 46 tons (101,413 pounds), and the 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV weighs 61 tons (134,482 pounds). Competitive systems are lighter; for example, the Ukrainian 2S22 Bohdana howitzer weighs about 31 tons (68,343 pounds), and the French CAESAR just 20 tons (44,092 pounds).
Although the 2S43 Malva is Russia's newest artillery system, in terms of range, it falls short of its western counterparts, with a firing range of up to 22 miles, while the western standard is currently about 25 miles. This is partly because the Russians use a proportionally shorter barrel with a length of 47 calibers, whereas the standard in modern artillery has become a length of 52 calibers.
Years ago, Poland was working on a weapon with similar characteristics, resulting in the prototype of the Kryl howitzer. However, the Kryl development program was abandoned, and the Ministry of National Defense, according to declarations from early 2025, does not plan to introduce a system with similar characteristics into service in the next decade.
