[2021] 2S3M : Hammer of the war god

A lil somethin somethin: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page here.

The hallmark of late Soviet self-propelled artillery, the 2S3M Akatsiya SPG, arrives in the game with the upcoming Winged Lions update!
2S3M, self-propelled gun, USSR, rank IV. Features:

• Powerful 152 mm howitzer cannon
  
• Mechanized ammo rack
  
• Self-entrenchment equipment
  
• Light armor

History [expand]After the end of World War II, the Soviet OKB-9 design bureau began work on creating a new weapon to replace the ML-20 towed howitzers and self-propelled guns adapted to use them. The new gun itself was ready by the mid-50s under the D-20 index, but the development of a new SPG began only after a government decree of 1967. The Transmash design bureau proposed a chassis based on its experimental self-propelled vehicles, and the modification of the D-20 gun for placement in the fighting compartment of the self-propelled gun was carried out by the OKB-9. The new vehicle was put into service in 1971 under the designation 2S3 Akatsiya (Russian for “acacia”). The 2S3 received a baptism of fire in Afghanistan and was subsequently mass-produced until 1993, having gone through several upgrades. 2S3M is the result of modernization in 1975, during which the mechanized ammunition rack was changed, and the ammo capacity increased from 40 to 46 rounds.[/expand]

With the release of the next major update "Winged Lions", the 2S3M will become a new SPG in the USSR armored vehicle research tree at rank IV. The 2S3M is a late Soviet self-propelled artillery with a forward arrangement for the engine compartment, featuring a rotating turret and a mechanized ammunition rack for 12 rounds, that provides a rate of fire that is very good for a 152 mm howitzer - about 4.5 rounds per minute.

Despite the enormous weight of the gun (one and a half tons with the breech!), the turret rotates quite quickly, making horizontal targeting simple and convenient. The vehicle uses several types of projectiles: three types of high-explosive fragmentation rounds, including a radio fuse shell; an armor-piercing round with a ballistic cap and a penetration of more than 160 mm at short distances, as well as a shape-charged BP-540 round with a penetration of up to 250 mm.

Interesting: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin once called the artillery a “god of war”, while infantry was mentioned as the “queen of fields”. These two nicknames were quite popular in the former Soviet states until now.

You should not expect miracles from the protection on the 2S3M: the vehicle is comparatively light and only has bulletproof armor. The location of the engine in the front part of the hull slightly increases the chance of survival of the crew when firing head-on, however, almost the entire space of the combat compartment in the turret and under it, is densely packed with shells, and any missed shot from a tank gun at the turret will immediately send it to the hangar

The new 2S3M self-propelled gun will be added with the release of the Winged Lions update that is almost ready. Do not miss our news and see you in the new releases of the "Development Diaries"!