Russia increases production of Malva self-propelled howitzers

The Russian defence industry has been scaling up production of 2S43 Malva self-propelled artillery systems. In February, at least eight of these systems were transported by rail.

Here's What We Know

The Telegram channel BTVT.INFO published a photo of a train with Malva howitzers. From the analysis of the images, it can be concluded that the production of these wheeled self-propelled artillery systems is developing in Russia. It is also possible that the transported systems included the 2S44 Hyacinth-K, which is unified with the Malva and based on the same chassis.

The BAZ-6910-011 chassis is manufactured by the Bryansk Automobile Plant, which has been hit by Ukrainian drones. Thanks to its automotive chassis and simplified design, the Malva should be cheaper and more mass-produced than its tracked counterparts.

It is known that the howitzer received an artillery part from the 2A36 Hyacinth-B long-range gun, which increased the range of fire. It can hit targets at a distance of up to 30.5 km with conventional shells and up to 33.1 km with active-reactive shells.

Development of the Malva began at the Burevestnik Central Research Institute in the 2010s, and testing began in 2020. The open mount, without additional armour protection, has reduced the weight of the vehicle to 32 tonnes, which is 25% lighter than the Msta-S tracked vehicle.

Source: Telegram