ACS

The Russians are using an extremely rare 2S31 Vena self-propelled mortar on the front line.

The video footage of the system was released by Russian propaganda media.

This is the first appearance of this artillery system in the war against Ukraine. It is known that in its service the Russian army has just a few samples which it received for experimental purposes.

The self-propelled mortar is equipped with a 120mm 2А80 gun-mortar, which can fire at a distance of up to 13 kilometers with conventional mortar rounds, or up to 18 km with special extended range ammunition.

Russian 2S31 Vena self-propelled mortar on the front line, September 2023

The self-propelled mortar was developed in the interests of the airborne troops of the Russian Federation to replace the outdated 2S9 Nona-S, which are now actively used by the invaders. Accordingly, it can be air dropped and is able to overcome water obstacles.

The main advantage of the new system against the background of its predecessor should be a high level of automation of firing due to the integration of a computerized fire control system, which made it possible to significantly reduce the preparation time of the mortar for firing at the newly detected target from minutes to 20 seconds.

Another advantage of the artillery system is the possibility of using mortar rounds of both Soviet and Western origin. In addition, the ammunition includes long-range rocket-assisted ammunition and precision rounds with laser guidance.

It is now difficult to interpret the decision to bring this system to the front line. Possible versions can be both attempts to use it for propaganda purposes and conduct a new test cycle before a possible state order.

It is no secret that the Russian invasion army is suffering serious losses in artillery due to the active work of Ukrainian counter-battery units and the use of precision weapons. The appearance of the Vena self-propelled mortar may be an attempt to compensate for these losses.

It also correlates with the recent news about attempts to urgently deploy the production of 152mm 2S35 Koalicia-SV and 2S43 Malva self-propelled howitzers to replace the systems destroyed in Ukraine.

During this statement, Vladimir Artyakov, deputy general director of Rostec Corporation, said that the mass production of Koalicia ACS, as well as the Support Reloading Vehicle for it, has allegedly already been deployed. He specified that their tests were planned to be completed this year.

2S35 Koalicia-SV (June 2020). Photo credits: Russian media

Also, the corporation said that the Russian 152mm Malva wheeled self-propelled howitzer would begin to arrive at the troops in the coming months. It has already undergone state testing in Russia.