In the early 70s, several artillery mounts appeared in the Soviet Union with “floral” names: “Carnation”, “Acacia”, “Tulip”, “Hyacinth” and “Peony”. The self-propelled howitzer "Carnation" was created to destroy and destroy the enemy manpower, artillery and mortar units. With its help, passage through minefields and through various obstacles is provided. These units are very fast and maneuverable.
What is a howitzer
The word "howitzer" comes from the German haubitze. Translated, this means a weapon that is designed for throwing stones. If we talk about artillery, the howitzer is a military device for firing at ground targets at an angle of 70 degrees. If you open an explanatory dictionary, the meaning of this word is described in different ways, but the main meaning does not change.
A howitzer is the same gun, but with a shorter barrel length. The velocity of the projectile at the beginning of the movement is also inferior to the velocity of the cannon. The walls in the barrel of howitzers are made thinner. If these two guns have the same caliber, then their weight is significantly different. The gun is much heavier.
Self-propelled gun "Carnation" is an artillery system, which is still used by the armed forces of different countries.
Creation and development of the first self-propelled gun mounts in the Soviet Union
At all times of wars and battles, equipment was needed that could accompany the advancing troops and support them with fire. Artillery weapons had many varieties. But all of it was not mobile.
By the beginning of the 20th century, the level of knowledge of designers allowed to start creating self-propelled guns. V.D. Mendeleev in 1916 proposed to the military his own development - a very heavy armored car on tracked vehicles. She had protective armor and a gun. In the same year, the artillery colonel Gulkevich proposed a draft self-propelled tractor. It was built at the Obukhov Steel Plant. He was armed with a 3-inch cannon and 2 machine guns and sheathed with armor. The following year, designer N. N. Lebedenko created a combat vehicle on two wheels. In 1920, Russian industrialists in Nizhny Novgorod launched a whole batch of tanks. They got the idea of creation from the French, having studied the captured Renault tank.
In the 20s, the development of machines was taken seriously. A competition was announced for the best proposal for the design and construction of armored vehicles. In 1922, the project "Motor Ship AM" received the first prize. Despite the mass of 10 tons, the car could float on water. At the same time, she was armed with a 76 mm gun.
Of great importance for the development of new types of weapons was the creation of the Commission of special artillery experiments. Under the leadership of the former general of the Russian army V.M. Trofimov, the committee studied the problems of ballistics and developed new types of weapons.
In the years 1922-23. created a battalion artillery self-propelled gun at the factory "Red Arsenal". At that time, the country was not in the best position, the industrial and economic base did not give the opportunity to engage in mass production of these plants. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the following factories worked on the creation of new types of weapons: Krasny Putilovets, named after Kalinina No. 8, "Red Arsenal" No. 7, Kharkov steam locomotive, "Bolshevik" - as well as many designers.
At the beginning of World War II, almost no attention was paid to self-propelled artillery and returned to this issue after the victory.
Creating a 2C1 installation
The creation of self-propelled guns "Carnation" was started after the resignation of Khrushchev on July 4, 1967. This was due to the fact that Soviet artillery equipment lagged behind the western. After the Great Patriotic War, there were no similar self-propelled guns in service in the Soviet Army. The creation of the howitzer was entrusted to the design bureau, which worked at the Uralmash plant. The project was led by F.F. Petrov. And the Kharkov Tractor Plant and personally designer A.F. Belousov were responsible for the chassis. Experts have analyzed all the technical characteristics of artillery, which have been released over the past few decades. And in the shortest possible time, the "Carnation" system was created - the installation, the photo of which is presented below.
Tower and chassis
The MT-LB tractor took over the function of the basic chassis in the installation. For greater stability, the chassis was supplemented with another roller.
Caterpillar self-propelled guns 2s1 Gvozdika was equipped with a place for the driver and had such departments: two combat, control and motor-transmission.
The driver-mechanic got a space that had tight barriers from the rest of the blocks located in 2s1 Gvozdika.
In front of the tower there was a gunner on the left, on the right - a loading gun, behind the gunner was the installation commander.
In the back, special places were created for storing ammunition. To facilitate the loading of howitzers, mechanisms were installed in the tower for sending shells and shells. Using a special electric or manual drive, the tower turned 360 degrees.
Caterpillars
Self-propelled guns "Carnation" has great opportunities for passing in hard-to-reach places. This is due to the tracks. They are made of rubber and metal. Their width on the base model is 400 mm. It is possible to replace them with a 670 mm track. This will increase the 2c1 Carnation patency. The movable housing support (track rollers) is equipped with an individual suspension with torsion bars. In addition, hydraulic shock absorbers are installed on the first and seventh wheels. The drive wheels are located in front of the combat vehicle, they have gear rims that can be replaced when they are worn. The tension of the tracks is ensured by a mechanism that is located inside the housing. SAU “Gvozdika" is endowed with the ability to move through water, overcoming obstacles, the width of which can be up to 300 m. The wave height should not be more than 150 mm, and the flow should not exceed a speed of 0.6 m per second. The buoyancy of the machine is ensured by the internal air chamber. It is created by welding two discs between the outer ring with a rubber bandage and a hub. The maximum speed of the self-propelled guns 2s1 Gvozdika does not exceed 4.5 km per hour. When moving on water, the number of shots should not be more than 30.
Housing and Interior
The Carnation missile launcher has an armored hull. It is made of steel 20 mm plates. Such protection allows you to protect the car and crew from small arms of light destruction, fragments and mines. The armor withstands a bullet with a diameter of 7.62 mm, fired from a distance of 300 m from a rifle.
The fuel tank 2s1 “Carnation” is six containers connected together, three on each side. The total volume is 550 liters. This is enough to cover a distance of 500 km along the highway.
The self-propelled engine was manufactured by the Yaroslavl Motor Plant. The four-stroke diesel engine has 8 cylinders and a V-shape, located in front. Its power is 240 horsepower.
SAU “Gvozdika" is equipped with a gearbox with 11 forward speeds and 2 rear.
The 2s1 self-propelled howitzer can be transported by air using the AN-12, IL-76, AN-124 aircraft.
Shells for "Carnation"
Currently, there are many varieties of shells that can use the "Carnation".
Standard set of equipment: 35 high-explosive fragmentation and 5 cumulative. All ammunition is located along the walls of the hull and turret.
Let us dwell on those shells that are suitable for use on self-propelled guns 2s1 Gvozdika.
1. High-explosive shells. Penetration is low. But they are used most often, since they cause huge damage. When hit inside the tank, the shell explodes. This leads to huge losses. If the projectile does not penetrate the armor, it cannot do much harm. For protection, special screens are used that do not allow penetrating the outer skin of the tank.
2. Cumulative ammunition. They better penetrate armor due to the formation of kinetic energy, as if burning through it. Penetration does not deteriorate with increasing distance to the target. Protection can be provided by special grilles-screens.
3. Lighting shells. Designed to illuminate the area or to reproduce signals in the dark (night) time of day. Applied when dropping with the help of aviation power or equipment. To slow down their movement using parachutes.
4. Campaign ammunition. Used to inform the population, which is located in the occupied territories or in inaccessible areas.
5. Shells of electronic countermeasures. Affect enemy air defense radar. Interfere with various radio waves.
6. Chemical ammunition. They are aimed at poisoning the enemy with poisons and chemicals. Shells can burst deafly or loudly. It depends on the boiling point of the chemical. After hitting the target, a poison cloud forms.
7. Smoke shells. Blind and place a dense smoke screen. It is recommended to use when the sun is behind the clouds, with little wind. This will increase the effect of smoke.
8. Shells with special striking elements. Their use is not permitted by the Hague Convention because of the severity of the wounds inflicted. Inside the projectile are arrows with tips.
For firing ammunition, which are stacked near the machine, it has a large back door and a transport device for feeding inside the compartment.
Howitzer
To create a self-propelled gun used the D-30 howitzer, which was already in service with many countries around the world. Self-propelled artillery 2s1 "Carnation" required the reconstruction and refinement of the D-30. So there was a modification of D-32 (2A31), which ideally met the new requirements. The 122-mm howitzer "Carnation" saw the light thanks to Design Bureau No. 9 and designer A.F. Belousov. The main differences from its predecessor are the presence of a two-chamber muzzle brake and an ejector. Inside the barrel, 36 rifling is done. The length of the entire pipe is 4270 mm, the length of the charging chamber is 594 mm. The entire receiver group has a weight of 955 kg. Now all modern artillery installations are equipped with such devices. Damage to the ejection device will lead to the fact that personnel will not be able to continue working without gas masks.
The gun barrel can be induced in a vertical position from -3 to +70 degrees. Guidance on the target is carried out with sights PG-2 and OP 5-37. The gun has a vertical wedge bolt. Re-cocked using a semi-automatic mechanism. The entire bolt mechanism has a weight of 35.65 kg.
The BP-1 installation is firing cumulative shells with the help of a special Zh-8 charge. Flight range can be up to 2 km. The projectile begins to move at a speed of 740 meters per second.
If a high-explosive charge is fired, the flight range can be 15.3 km. When fired by an active rocket, it increases to 21.9 km. The minimum distance that ammunition can be sent is 4.07 km.
"Carnation" does not apply to rapid-firing equipment. When firing "from the ground" the gun can produce 4-5 rounds per minute. If the fire is kept by a supply of shells on board, then 1-2 rounds per minute occur.
Technical and tactical data
- The crew of the car is 4 people.
- The total combat weight is 15, 700 kg.
- Dimensions: length - 7.265 m, width - 2.85 m, height - 2.285 m.
- Armor - 2 cm steel.
- The gun is a howitzer with a 122 mm barrel D-32.
- Combat kit - maximum 40 shells.
- Rate of fire - 4-5 rounds per minute (maximum).
- Firing Range - 4.07-15 km.
- The maximum speed on the highway is 60 km / h.
- The maximum speed of movement on water is 4.5 km / h.
- The distance at one gas station is a maximum of 500 km.
- Can overcome obstacles: a wall 0.7 m high, a ditch 2.75 m wide.
The kit includes the following components:
Commander’s observation device BDIN-3, PG-1 sight, PG-2 artillery fire control system, PP81MN gunner’s night sight, TVN-M2 driver’s night vision device, YaMZ-238N-1 diesel engine.
Modern Carnations
The car was adopted by almost all the Warsaw Pact countries. Until now, the Gvozdika artillery system is used by various countries of the world. Its modern modifications are equipped with laser guidance “Kitolov-2”. It was specially designed for self-propelled guns at the Instrument Design Bureau in Tula. Such a projectile easily affects any armored moving and stationary targets. "Kitolov-2" was adopted in 2002. The mass of the projectile is 28 kg, length - 1190 mm.
The serial production of the 2C1 self-propelled howitzer with a 122 mm barrel is still ongoing.
The last modernization was carried out in 2003. In Perm, at the Motovilikhinskiye Zavody enterprise, the installation received new equipment in the form of an automatic guidance and fire control system. After that, the self-propelled guns were assigned a new designation - 2C1M1.
Installation "Carnation" is in such countries:
- Azerbaijan - 62 pieces.
- Algeria - 145 pieces.
- Armenia - 10 pieces.
- Belarus - 246 pieces.
- Bulgaria - 306 pieces.
- Bosnia and Herzegovina - 5 pieces.
- Hungary - 153 pieces.
- Georgia - 12 pieces.
- Democratic Republic of the Congo - 12 pieces.
- Kazakhstan - 10 pieces.
- Poland - 533 pieces.
- Republic of Serbia - 75 pieces.
- Russia - 2000 pieces.
- Romania - 6 pieces.
- Syria - 400 pieces.
- Slovakia - 49 pieces.
- Ukraine - 580 pieces.
- And also in Angola, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Czech Republic and Ethiopia.
The self-propelled howitzer "Carnation" was produced not only in Russia. The right to make it received Poland and Bulgaria.
In the Russian army, these howitzers are distributed limitedly. They are used in the artillery of mountain motorized rifle brigades and in the marine corps. The most popular are 152 mm howitzers.
Until August 2014, the 2s1 Gvozdika artillery mount was carried out at a factory in Kharkov.
After the crisis in Ukraine led to a military confrontation, the owner of the plant, the Russian Oleg Deripaska, was banned from releasing these weapons. In addition, the company did not renew the license for the production of snow and swamp vehicles and lightly armored tractors.
Carnations as exhibits
Separate instances of self-propelled guns "Carnation" can be seen in various museums around the world. In Russia, these fighting vehicles are installed in the form of exhibits or memorial pedestals in twelve places.
In the Vadim Zadorozhny Museum of Technology (Moscow Region), in the Partizanskaya Polyana memorial complex (Bryansk), in the Krasnoarmeysk district of Moscow near the Geodesy Research Institute, in the capital's Victory Park, in the Suvorov Military School (Moscow), in St. Petersburg, Yalutorovsk and other cities.
In Belarus, “Carnation” is in the Gomel Regional Museum of Military Glory and in the historical and cultural complex “Stalin Line”.
In Poland, these models are housed in five military museums, in the United States - in three, in the Czech Republic - in one.
In Ukraine, 6 expositions in different cities of the country had such self-propelled guns.
