Recently, among domestic and foreign specialists, the development and testing of the Russian SAO "Lotos" (2S42) for the airborne troops has been of great interest.
This mobile branch of the military requires equipping with armored vehicles with specific requirements, the main of which is the need for landing from an aircraft and conducting hostilities behind enemy lines in isolation from the main forces. Therefore, the development of the IJSC "Lotos" should be considered as an integral part of the triad of armored vehicles of the Airborne Forces: the BMD-4M airborne combat vehicle, the Sprut-SD self-propelled artillery unit (2A25) and the Lotus self-propelled artillery gun (2S42). Each of these vehicles performs its own specific tasks, and together they must provide the operational mobility and firepower of the paratroopers.
All these vehicles should have similar characteristics as far as possible landing, maneuverability, maintainability, providing ammunition and fuels and lubricants in isolation from the supply bases. To carry out missions to suppress enemy personnel, lightly armored vehicles, melee weapons, tanks, artillery and well-fortified enemy strongholds, they must be equipped with a wide range of weapons.
The possibility of landing imposes restrictions on weight and dimensions, the weight of the vehicle should not exceed 20 tons. The power of the power plant and the chassis should provide equal opportunities for all vehicles to move over difficult terrain and overcome water obstacles.
The chassis of the three cars are similar in their characteristics. The chassis of the Lotos IJSC is based on a modified BMD-4M chassis with six pairs of rubberized road wheels. The chassis of the Sprut-SD SUO is based on a modified chassis of the 934 Object light tank with seven pairs of rubberized road wheels. All vehicles have a specific feature: they have a hydropneumatic suspension that provides variable ground clearance, they are all floating and equipped with water jets.
It is impossible to provide the firepower of all types of weapons while limiting the mass-dimensional characteristics in one vehicle, therefore each vehicle has different types of weapons.
"BMD-4M" is equipped with a rifled 100-mm cannon 2A70 for firing high-explosive fragmentation shells and launching ATGM, a small-caliber 30-mm cannon 2A72 and 7, 62-mm machine gun. BMD-4M is designed to transport a group of paratroopers (5 people), suppress manpower, lightly armored vehicles and enemy melee weapons. The machine has the ability to defeat tanks and fortified points of the enemy and using the ATGM "Arkan".
The Sprut-SD self-propelled gun is equipped with a 125-mm smooth-bore cannon 2A75, which is a modification of the 2A46 tank gun with the ability to use all tank shells (high-explosive, armor-piercing subcaliber, cumulative) and Reflex ATGM, 7, 62-mm and 12, 7 mm machine guns. The cannon has a powerful muzzle energy, providing a high speed of departure of an armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile (1700 m / s) and good armor penetration. The main purpose is to fight tanks, artillery and well-fortified enemy strongpoints.
The fundamental difference between the weapons of the SAO "Lotos" is the presence of a universal 120-mm gun, which combines the functions of a cannon, a howitzer and a mortar. SAO Lotus is an addition to the SPRUT-SD self-propelled guns and solves a wide range of tasks using the advantages of a howitzer and mortar, providing guidance of the gun in azimuth at 360 degrees. and shooting with elevation angles from -4 degrees. up to +80 deg.
The "Lotos" cannon uses various types of shells and mines designed to suppress manpower, artillery and mortar batteries, rocket launchers, armored targets, fire weapons and enemy command posts.
According to its characteristics, the SAO "Lotos" cannon is close to the characteristics of the "Vena" self-propelled guns. Apparently, the SAO "Lotos" gun was based on a combined semi-automatic rifled 120-mm gun 2A80, a self-propelled artillery and mortar installation "Vena" (2S31), developed for the ground forces on the basis of the BMP-3 chassis and put into service in 2010 year.
Ammunition for guns on all vehicles 38-40 rounds, and all of them are equipped with an automatic loader.
SAO "Lotos" is intended to replace the 120-mm self-propelled artillery guns 2S9 "Nona-S" (1981), 2S9-1 "Sviristelka" (1988), 2S9-1M "Nona-SM" (2006) in the airborne troops.
The "Lotos" cannon is compatible with a wide range of 120-mm shells and mines and is capable of firing all types of mines of this caliber, regardless of the country of origin, which is fundamentally important for airborne troops conducting combat operations on enemy territory.
In the SAO "Lotos", it is planned to use promising artillery shots of several types, which are distinguished by increased power. With a caliber of 120 mm, the new ammunition will have characteristics at the level of the existing 152-mm rounds. It was also announced the creation of new ammunition with improved technical and combat characteristics, while they will have great modernization potential.
The difference between SAO Lotos and the machines of the previous generation of the Nona family is the presence of an automated control system and fire adjustment using a satellite navigation system and the ability to automatically receive and transmit information with data for firing at targets. The equipment of the CAO fully meets the requirements of modern conditions of combined arms combat. For these purposes, in parallel with the development of the IJSC "Lotos", work is underway to create a promising artillery control vehicle "Zavet-D".
The basis for the development of Lotos JSC is the backlog of work on the development of Zauralets-D JSC with 120 mm and 152 mm guns. Based on their results, it was decided to carry out further work with a 120 mm gun. In 2019, it is planned to conduct state tests of Lotos JSC and, with positive results, to adopt it in 2020.
The development and acceptance into service of Lotos, in addition to the BMD-4M and the Sprut-SD, will provide the airborne troops with a new modern weapon that effectively engages a wide range of targets within the framework of automated control of airborne weapons.
