SAO 2S34 "Hosta" was designed at the Motovilikhinsky plant in Perm. In essence, this is the same ACS 2S1 "Carnation", but it has undergone a major modernization. According to some reports, the release of 2C34 was launched in 2003. The crew consists of four people, the armor is sheet, rolled, the combat weight is 16 tons. Armament: 2A80-1 cannon with vertical guidance from -2 to 80 degrees and 7, 62 PKT machine gun mounted on the turret roof. According to its technical characteristics, the Gvozdika was a pretty good, unpretentious and reliable combat vehicle, but today the 2S1 is certainly outdated.
The undercarriage of the new "Hosts" BSh 2S1 (improved BSh MT-LB) inherited from the same "Carnation", only new weapons were installed, components and assemblies were used in the new circular rotation tower, some innovations and developments present at the SAO 2S31 "Vienna ", Created on the basis of BMP-3, 2S23" Nona "SVK and experimental" Object-118 ". Also installed an improved 2A80 - 120 mm semi-automatic rifled gun-howitzer-mortar 2A80-1, equipped with a muzzle brake. Unlike the 2A80, which has almost twice the rate of fire and the ability to fire all types of 120 mm projectiles, at a distance of up to 13 km. High-explosive fragmentation projectiles, mines also provide for the possibility of firing modern 3VOF112 Kitolov-2 projectiles with a passive homing head that receives the reflection signal of a laser designator, with the exception of the 3VBK14 cumulative projectile. Shooting can be conducted without prior preparation, both from closed, semi-closed and open positions with direct or semi-direct fire, moreover, the "Host" is capable of destroying targets on reverse slopes, which is an important factor when conducting combat operations in mountainous or hilly terrain.
The modernization also affected the electronic filling of the new 2S34, although the complete set, in order to reduce the total cost of production, will be installed only on the vehicles of battery commanders and above. The rest of the CAO will be without ASUNO (this sometimes amounts to up to 50% of the total cost of the vehicle), which makes the Host much cheaper to manufacture and, therefore, more attractive to the world arms market. But at the same time, with lower combat qualities than, for example, the very expensive, but more modern SAO 2S31 "Vienna", which, among other things, can even use NATO countries' ammunition for firing. But for some mysterious reasons, its release is practically curtailed in favor of simpler and outdated, but in demand (mainly developing countries of the third world) in the world arms market, cheap models. Here is such a budget option for combining 2S23 "Nona" and 2S1 "Carnation", although the modern army of Russia, the army of the 21st century, seemingly needs more modern and high-tech machines. Designed not for the external market and created taking into account the purchasing power of potential customers, but focused primarily on strengthening and increasing the defense capability of their country.
Nevertheless, the market dictates its conditions, the factories of the Russian defense industry are surviving as best they can, and the CAO 2S34 "Hosta" begins to enter the troops, but it is still difficult to talk about its combat qualities, especially since, as already mentioned, there are two options for equipping and completing cars. If we consider and evaluate the "command" option, then this is, of course, a formidable combat vehicle, given the maneuverability and driving performance of the Gvozdika chassis, which showed itself from the best side during the war in Afghanistan. According to the recollections of crew members, participants in those events, who spoke warmly about the "saushka" and noted the simplicity, reliability and durability, coupled with the extraordinary resistance of the armored hull to detonation on anti-tank mines. New weapons, plus the ASUNO equipment (automated guidance and fire control system) will allow performing the most complex combat missions in a modern war, however, the budget option is in many ways inferior to it in these characteristics, and this, unfortunately, is the majority of the machines. As we remember in history, at one time, radio stations were also not installed on all machines of the pre-war period, what this led to and at what price it was paid in the initial period of the Great Patriotic War, everyone knows.
In the meantime, the assertions of some sources that - "… the efficiency of the machine is three times higher than that of a non-modernized one …" cause, to put it mildly, great doubts. Do not forget that this is still not a new machine, but a deeply modernized old self-propelled guns model developed back in the USSR.
