Russian 155mm Msta-S Howitzer Guided by Orlan Drone in Demo Firing

Russian 155mm ‘Msta-S’ self propelled (SP) howitzer’s fire was guided by Orlan-10E reconnaissance drone in a first ever demonstration before a potential foreign customer.

Rostec subsidiary, Uralvagonzavod demonstrated to representatives of a foreign customer the possibilities of joint operation of the Msta-S self-propelled howitzer, upgraded to NATO's 155 mm caliber, and the Orlan-10E reconnaissance drone, Rostec said in a release.

During the demonstration, the artillery gun fired at a maximum range of 40 kilometers and showed excellent interaction with the UAV. The demonstration took place at the Staratel training ground in Nizhny Tagil; the date of the demonstration was not mentioned, neither was the potential customer named.

“The foreign customer was shown the combat capabilities of the modernized 155-mm self-propelled howitzer 2S19M1-155 as part of the artillery complex. The installation fired at a maximum distance of 40 km with the restoration of the aiming in automatic mode. In addition, Msta-S has shown excellent results of interaction with the control vehicle and the Orlan-10E unmanned aerial vehicle, the Rostec release said.

In the course of joint work, "Orlan-10E" spotted the target and transferred its coordinates to the control machine, which calculated the elevation of the gun for accurate firing and sent them to the crew of the self-propelled howitzer.

UAVs are increasingly being used to locate targets and guide artillery fire. The Orlan-10E has already been supplied to the Russian army.