History of creation
The 2S25 "Sprut-SD" self-propelled anti-tank gun was created in the early 90s. on the extended (by two rollers) base of the BMD-3 airborne assault vehicle by the Volgograd Tractor Plant Joint-Stock Company, and the artillery unit for it - at the artillery plant N9 (Yekaterinburg). In contrast to the Sprut-B towed artillery system, the new SPG was named Sprut-SD ("self-propelled", "airborne").
Originally intended for the Airborne Forces and designed for parachute landing with a crew from the Il-76 military transport aircraft, the cannon is now offered to the Marine Corps in order to provide anti-tank and fire support during landing operations.
One of its first performances took place on May 8, 2001 at the Prudboy tank range of the North Caucasian Military District for representatives of the power ministries of Russia and the foreign military-diplomatic corps from 14 foreign countries of Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America.
Appointment
The 125-mm self-propelled anti-tank gun 2S25 "Sprut-SD" is designed to destroy equipment, including armored ones, and enemy manpower when operating as part of ground and airborne troops, as well as marines.
Outwardly, it looks like an ordinary tank and combines the capabilities of an amphibious assault combat vehicle with a main battle tank. Outwardly, "Sprut-SD" is no different from an ordinary tank and has no analogues abroad.
Key Features
According to experts, the new self-propelled gun, in appearance and firepower, is comparable to a tank, is characterized by the maneuverable capabilities of the airborne BMD-3 and has no analogues abroad. In addition, the Sprut-SD is equipped with a unique hydropneumatic chassis that allows the combat vehicle to move smoothly and quickly in off-road conditions at speeds up to 70 km per hour, which significantly improves the conditions for firing in motion.
In addition, Sprut-SD is capable of overcoming water obstacles at a speed of up to 10 km per hour afloat. This was confirmed by tests in the North Sea, when, in a storm of up to 3 points, the BM confidently fired at its assigned targets. The vehicle can drop from cargo ships onto the water surface and return to the ship on its own. The noted and other qualities, together with the circular rotation of the turret and the stabilization of weapons in two planes, make it possible to use the Sprut-SD as a light amphibious tank.
General device
The BM body is divided into a control compartment (front part), a fighting compartment with a turret (middle part) and an engine-transmission compartment (aft part).
In the stowed position, the vehicle commander is to the right of the driver and the gunner to the left. Each crew member has observation devices built into the roof with day and night channels. The commander's combined sight is stabilized in two planes and combined with a laser sight for aiming 125-mm projectiles at a laser beam. The gunner's sight with a laser rangefinder is stabilized in the vertical plane.
125-mm smoothbore gun 2A75 is the main armament of the Sprut-SD CAU. The gun was created on the basis of the 125-mm 2A46 tank gun, which is installed on the T-72, T-80 and T-90 tanks. The smoothbore gun of high ballistics installed in the fighting compartment is equipped with a computerized fire control system from the commander and gunner's workplaces, which are functionally interchangeable.
As an auxiliary armament, the Sprut-SD self-propelled gun is equipped with a 7.62-mm machine gun paired with a cannon with an ammunition load of 2000 rounds loaded in one belt.
The cannon without a muzzle brake is equipped with an ejector and a thermal insulation casing. Stabilization in the vertical and horizontal planes allows you to fire 125-mm ammunition with separate-case loading. "Sprut-SD" can use all types of 125-mm domestic ammunition, including armor-piercing sub-caliber feathered projectiles and tank ATGMs. The gun ammunition (40 125-mm shots, of which 22 are in the automatic loader) can include a laser-guided projectile, which ensures the defeat of a target located at a distance of up to 4000 m. The cannon can fire afloat in waves of up to 3 points in a sector of ± 35 deg., maximum rate of fire - 7 rounds per minute.
The horizontal automatic loader of the carousel cannon is installed behind the turret of the vehicle. It is a set of assemblies and mechanisms - a rotating conveyor with 22 shots ready for immediate use, a chain mechanism for lifting a cartridge with a shot, a mechanism for removing spent pallets with a catcher, a chain rammer for a shot from a cartridge into a gun, a drive for the cover of the ejection hatch of the cartridge case and a movable chute, electromechanical gun stopper at the loading angle, control unit. Cassettes, with shells and charges separately placed in them, are installed in the conveyor of the automatic loader at an angle equal to the angle of loading the gun. When loading, a projectile is first fed into the breech of the gun, then a propellant charge in a semi-combustible sleeve-cap. In case of failure of the automatic loader, it is possible to manually load the gun.
To provide increased rollback, the autoloader has an extended cassette lift frame. The mechanism for catching and removing the spent pallets makes it possible, when the spent pallet passes through it, to temporarily overlap the rear side of the end part of the cannon breech. This allows, with the subsequent movement of the spent pallet, the cleaning system to blow air into the breech zone of the gun and the crew's workplaces using a rotating device. In the lower part of the fighting compartment, an automatic loader conveyor rotating around a vertical axis is installed, which allows crew members to move inside the vehicle from the fighting compartment to the control compartment and back along the sides of the hull.
Fire control system includes a gunner's sighting system (night and day sights with vertical stabilization of the field of view, digital ballistic computer, laser rangefinder); the commander's sight combined with the function of a day / night sight with a laser rangefinder and a stabilized field of view in two planes, as well as a targeting device for guided missiles of the 9K119M complex; a set of sensors for automatic input of corrections taking into account atmospheric parameters, charge temperature, barrel wear and curvature, etc.
The computerized fire control system from the commander's workplace provides observation of the terrain with a stabilized field of view, target search and target designation using the optical system of the commander's sight; combining in the commander's sight the functions of launching and controlling a missile with aimed firing of artillery shells; duplication of the ballistic computing device of the gunner's instrument complex; autonomous activation and control of guidance drives and automatic gun loader; operational transfer of control of the complex from the gunner to the commander and vice versa.
Power point and the chassis has much in common with the BMD-3, the base of which was used in the development of the 2S25 Sprut-SD ACS. The 2V06-2S multi-fuel diesel engine installed on it with a maximum power of 510 kW is interlocked with a hydromechanical transmission, a hydrostatic swing mechanism and a power take-off for two water-jet propellers. The automatic transmission has five forward gears and the same number of reverse gears.
Individual, hydropneumatic, with a ground clearance variable from the driver's seat (in 6-7 s from 190 to 590 mm) chassis suspension ensures high cross-country ability and smooth ride. The undercarriage on each side includes seven single-sided rubberized road wheels, four supporting rollers, a rear drive wheel and a front steering wheel. There is a hydraulic tensioning mechanism for steel, double-ridged, pinned tracks with a rubber-metal hinge, which can be equipped with asphalt shoes.
When making marches of up to 500 km, the car can move along the highway at a maximum speed of 68 km / h, on dry dirt roads - at an average speed of 45 km / h.
Two water-jet propellers allow the 2S25 self-propelled guns to move through the water at a speed of up to 10 km / h. To increase buoyancy, the machine is equipped with support rollers with closed air chambers and powerful water pumps that pump water out of the hull. The vehicle possesses good seaworthiness and can effectively operate afloat, including aimed fire in the forward sector of fire at 70 degrees, with an excitement of 3 points.
In addition to the above, the standard equipment of the vehicle includes a system of protection against weapons of mass destruction and a set of night vision devices.
The Sprut-SD self-propelled guns can be transported by VTA aircraft and landing ships, parachute with a crew inside the vehicle and overcome water obstacles without preparation.
Interesting
The armies of many countries of the world have recently paid special attention to lightly armored military equipment as the basis of rapid reaction forces. The fight against international terrorism and the conduct of peacekeeping operations in the zones of local conflicts demanded the creation of highly mobile and functionally flexible "combat systems of the future."
In this regard, according to foreign experts, it is Russia that has the greatest opportunities in the field of creating lightly armored airborne vehicles. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are already equipped with effective samples of light (up to 18 tons), highly passable, airborne armored vehicles capable of performing tasks autonomously, in isolation from the main forces and rear units, as well as in any conditions (including in hard-to-reach and remote areas, in mountainous areas). terrain, desert conditions and on the coast).
In addition, according to experts, this class of combat vehicles has significant export potential. It is these machines that can be used as the basis for equipping the mobile component of the armed forces and special services of any state.
The validity of this opinion is confirmed by the Sprut-SD self-propelled guns. After its demonstration at the test site, many military attachés admitted that in terms of combat and operational capabilities, it surpasses all existing foreign counterparts. So, not a single car in the world can be used in the mountains at an altitude of 4000 meters, change the ground clearance by 400 mm, swim in rough seas up to 3 points, get off and on from the water on a landing ship and parachute with the crew.
Representatives of the armed forces of the Republic of Korea, India and other countries showed great interest in the 2S25 Sprut-SD self-propelled artillery mount.
Impact Force - Fire Octopus
