Russia's 'Coalition-SV' Rapid-fire Howitzer to Enter Production

Russia’s unique new 152mm howitzer that can fire up to 16 rounds per minute, will enter limited series production this year for possible induction by 2022.

“A pilot batch of 10 pieces was manufactured. There are state tests. Upon completion of testing, mass production will begin,” Grigory Zakamennykh, director general of the Burevestnik Central Research Institute which is developing the system said at the DexExpo-2020 defense exhibition in India on February 7.

The highlight of the ‘Coalition-SV’ howitzer  is a 152 mm 2A88 cannon with a firing speed of 16 rounds per minute, which is higher than the firing speed of other artillery systems. The howitzer has an innovative firing mode - a “barrage of fire”, which allows several shells to be fired from the same gun at different angles that simultaneously reach the target, Russian ground forces commander, Oleg Salyukov, has said earlier.

It was first unveiled at the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War (World War II) in Moscow last year.

Dubbed as the “machine-gun” howitzer, its firing speed and shooting characteristics are unmatched by any other competing system in the world, its developer claims. The Coalition-SV self-propelled howitzer can destroy artillery and mortar batteries, tanks and other armored vehicles, anti-tank weapons, air defense and missile defense systems, command posts, as well as field fortifications, tvzvezda.ru, the Russian MoD’s TV channel said. 

It is the first-all new howitzer system designed in recent years and may set the trend for competition from the United States, France, South Korea and the U.K.