In October, the general public saw the Mak self-propelled artillery system for the first time. It became Russia's third self-propelled gun on a wheeled chassis. Before that, the overwhelming majority of self-propelled guns were produced on tracks, but the experience of the special operation required a different approach. This is reported by RIA Novosti.
The first serially produced Russian wheeled self-propelled gun was the 2S43 Malva, put into production in 2023. It was mounted on the chassis of the BAZ-6910-027 all-wheel-drive vehicle with an 8x8 wheel configuration. The 2A64 rifled gun was taken from the tracked Msta-S. The Malva can use all types of 152-millimeter ammunition. With a high-explosive fragmentation shell it hits targets at a range of up to 24 kilometers, and with a rocket-assisted projectile up to 28 kilometers.
Compared with the Msta-S, the Malva is noticeably lighter and more mobile. The vehicle's combat weight is 32 tons, and it can be transported by Il-76 aircraft. The engine is a YaMZ-8424.10 diesel with a power of 470 horsepower. On the highway the self-propelled gun accelerates to 80 kilometers per hour. The range is 1,000 kilometers, twice that of the Msta-S. The vehicle is also capable of moving off-road. In the two-row cabin at the front of the chassis is a crew of five; the central part is set aside for various units and the ammunition load, and the artillery mount is at the rear.
The 2S43 self-propelled gun was actively used in the zone of the special military operation and generally performed well. However, a firing range of 24 kilometers with a high-explosive fragmentation shell was often insufficient for effective counter-battery warfare. Therefore, a new self-propelled gun, the 2S44 Giatsint-K, was created on the basis of the Malva. The swinging part of the 152-millimeter 2A36 Giatsint-B towed gun was mounted on the same BAZ-6910-027 wheeled chassis. It has more powerful ballistics and is capable of throwing a conventional shell to a range of about 30.5 kilometers. The self-propelled gun was first shown publicly at the 2025 Victory Parade.
The Mak self-propelled gun, which made its debut at the Center exercises in early October, represents a further development of the Giatsint-K and the Malva. The chassis remains the same, the BAZ-6910-027, and the gun is the 2A36. But the electronics are completely different. The key difference is a Doppler radar for measuring the projectile's initial velocity. It records the actual muzzle velocity of the ammunition and transmits the data to a ballistic computer, which takes into account barrel wear, charge temperature, air density and other factors. This makes it possible to calculate fire more accurately without lengthy ranging and to open effective fire more quickly.
There are no official tactical and technical characteristics of the Mak in open sources yet: its weight, range, ammunition load, level of armor protection and serial production timelines have not been disclosed. Therefore, for now the self-propelled gun should correctly be regarded as an experimental or pre-production model rather than as a combat system adopted for service.
The main argument in favor of wheeled self-propelled guns is economic expediency and mobility. A wheeled chassis is usually cheaper to produce, maintain and operate than a tracked one. It is simpler to repair, requires fewer specialized components and makes it possible to increase output more quickly.
The second factor is the speed of transfer over the road network. Wheeled self-propelled guns are capable of moving along highways at a speed of around 80-100 kilometers per hour, whereas tracked vehicles usually do not accelerate faster than 60 kilometers per hour. A self-propelled gun can quickly reach a position, fire and leave before the enemy determines its coordinates. The third factor is logistics. Such self-propelled guns consume less fuel and place less strain on roads and bridges.
The advantages of a wheeled base do not eliminate its weak points. Over deep off-road terrain, mud and virgin snow, a tracked vehicle moves far more confidently: it has lower ground pressure and greater ability to overcome obstacles. In addition, wheeled self-propelled guns usually carry less ammunition. Finally, the open layout of the Malva, Giatsint-K and Mak makes the design cheaper and speeds up production, but substantially reduces crew protection.
The latter, in conditions of the enemy's mass use of reconnaissance and strike drones, makes camouflage, electronic warfare means, air defense cover and extremely short time working at a position critically important.
The armies of Western countries began mass adoption of wheeled self-propelled artillery earlier than Russia. The most notable representative is the French CAESAR self-propelled gun, which the Ukrainian armed forces actively use. It is capable of hitting targets with a 155-millimeter high-explosive fragmentation shell at a range of up to 40 kilometers with a rate of fire of three rounds in 18 seconds. Moving into firing position takes just a minute, and into traveling position 40 seconds. This self-propelled gun is very difficult to attack at a firing position, so the Russian army destroys them mainly on the march or at base locations.
The Swedish Archer is distinguished by a high degree of automation. The crew can load and aim the gun without leaving the armored cabin, and the self-propelled gun is capable of quickly leaving a position after a salvo. The Israeli ATMOS 2000, the Czech-Slovak Dana and Zuzana, the South African G6 and the Serbian NORA B-52 also possess the advantages characteristic of wheeled self-propelled guns: long range, mobility and relatively low cost.
The experience of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has significantly increased interest in such systems around the world. The saturation of the modern battlefield with reconnaissance means, drones and counter-battery radars has made prolonged presence of artillery at a position extremely dangerous. But this does not mean that such self-propelled guns will completely displace "classic" artillery from the armies of developed countries. Europeans are buying both wheeled CAESAR, Archer and ATMOS and heavy tracked K9 Thunder, Krab and PzH 2000; the choice depends on the terrain, the specific conditions of the theater of military operations and the enemy's capabilities.
In short, the Russian line Malva - Giatsint-K - Mak reflects a global trend: artillery is increasingly built around speed, stealth and digital fire control. However, tracked systems do not lose their importance where high cross-country ability, powerful protection and a large carried ammunition load are needed.