The Soviet 240-mm self-propelled mortar 2S4 "Tulip" is an artillery system of increased power, specially designed to perform special and specific tactical tasks on the battlefield. The gun is one of the important elements of the artillery reserve of the Supreme High Command. The main purpose is to destroy long-term fortifications and fortifications, large concentrations of military equipment, equipment and manpower in hidden and hard-to-reach places. The striking effect is achieved due to the steeply hinged trajectory of the flight of a mine, which has a large destructive power.
Serial production of mortar 2S4 "Tulip"
A new powerful artillery gun was created as part of the implementation of the program for the development of artillery weapons, approved by the USSR Ministry of Defense in 1965. Work on the creation of a powerful new large-caliber mortar began in 1966 in the OKB-3 of the Ural Transport Engineering Plant. The mortar itself 2B8 was created by the willows of the SKB machine-building plant named after Lenin in the city of Perm. The whole project, which received the Grau index in 1967 - object 305 (2С4), was headed by the chief designer G.S. Yefimov.
By the summer of 1969, the first three prototypes of the mortar had been manufactured, which were put out for field testing in May-June. In 1971, according to the test results, a new artillery system called the 240-mm self-propelled mortar 2S4 "Tulip" was put into service, joining the RVK divisions. The main production base for the serial production of the new gun was the Ural Transport Engineering Plant. In just 14 years from 1974 to 1988, 588 heavy mortars were manufactured.
Tactical and technical characteristics of the 240-mm self-propelled mortar 2S4 "Tulip"
- Calculation - 5 people.
- Combat weight - 27.5 tons.
- Length - 7.9 m, width - 3.2 m, ground clearance - 450 mm.
- Armament: 240-mm mortar (loading unitary, made from the breech; ammunition - 40 high-explosive fragmentation or 20 active-reactive mines).
- Elevation angle from +50 degrees to +80 degrees.
- Rate of fire: 1 shots / min.
- Maximum firing range - 9510 m; active-reactive mine - 19.5 thousand meters.
- The main types of ammunition: high-explosive fragmentation, active-reactive mines, guided mine 1K113 "Brave".
- Armor thickness: bulletproof.
- Diesel engine, power - 520 hp
- Maximum speed on the highway - 62.8 km / h.
- Cruising on the highway - 500 km / h.
Self-propelled 240 mm mortar 2S4 "Tulip" was used by artillery units of the 40th Army during the hostilities in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Combat use was carried out in limited quantities. In the late 1990s, the heavy mortars “Tulip” were used by the Russian army during the Chechen company.
Photo 2S4 "Tulip"
