[Infographic] SU-152 self-propelled gun can fire smart bullets of the Vietnamese army
The SU-152 (2S3 Akatsiya) self-propelled gun is equipped with a 152mm caliber gun with a range of 17.4km with conventional shells and 24km with extended-range shells. In addition, it is capable of firing nuclear shells and laser-guided smart shells.
SU-152 is the designation given by the Vietnam People's Army to the 152mm 2S3 Akatsiya self-propelled gun researched and manufactured by the Soviet Union since 1968 to counter the American M109 Paladin.
The structure of the SU-152 includes a chassis based on the 2P24 self-propelled launcher vehicle of the SA-4 Krug surface-to-air missile system, but with one row of load-bearing wheels removed.
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| Su-152 self-propelled gun. Image cut from QPVN Channel news. |
The main gun of the SU-152 is the 152.4 mm D22 with a barrel length 27 times the diameter (L/27) developed based on the D20 towed howitzer, with a maximum range of 18.5 km with regular ammunition or up to 24 km when using extended-range ammunition.
In the case of direct firing, the 2S3's 152mm HEAT-FS shell can penetrate 250mm of homogeneous steel from a distance of 3km. The scary thing about this gun is that in addition to firing nuclear shells, it can also fire Krasnopol-M2 smart shells with a semi-active guidance mechanism by a laser target designator placed near the target to be attacked.
This type of ammunition has just accurately destroyed a terrorist group that attacked a Russian airbase on December 31. It is known that this group was hiding in a base when the 2S19 Msta-S self-propelled artillery used this smart artillery shell to destroy it.
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| Krasnopol-M2 smart ammunition. |
The only downside is that the cost of smart artillery shells is often dozens of times higher than that of regular artillery shells, so it will be a difficult problem for countries with moderate defense budgets like Vietnam.
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