Immediately after the Winter War of 1939, it finally became clear that there was a clear shortage of heavy mortars in the troops that could be effectively used to destroy the enemy’s fortified positions. The Great Patriotic War prevented the start of work on their creation, when Soviet industry was not up to heavy mortars.
After the Victory, work resumed. The installation of the M-240 was originally created. Its caliber, as the name implies, was equal to 240 mm. But the characteristics of the machine did not fully satisfy the military. In particular, they were unhappy with the extremely weak booking. In addition, there were complaints about the chassis. It was at this time that the development of the Tulip installation began. This self-propelled guns was supposed to have increased power, heavier armor and a reliable chassis.
Development start
The work was started on July 4, 1967, according to the decree No. 609-20. As for the most important, artillery part of the new gun (held under the index 2B8), it was practically unchanged taken from the M-240 heavy self-propelled mortar. Ballistics and ammunition used are fully preserved. Work in this area was carried out by Perm specialists. The project was led by Yu. N. Kalachnikov.
Thanks to him, the self-propelled gun "Tulip", the characteristics of which are presented in the article, acquired such impressive ballistic data.
Initially, prototypes were collected on the basis of the Object 305 chassis, which, in essence, was almost completely identical to that of the Krug anti-aircraft installation. Initially, the reservation was calculated so as to hold a bullet cartridge 7.62x54 from a distance of 300 meters. The chassis was developed and manufactured by specialists at Uraltransmash, led by Yu. V. Tomashov. We immediately note that the mortar itself cannot be used without it in principle.
Factory Tests
When did they begin to experience the Tulip? Self-propelled guns went for testing for the first time at the end of May 1969. They ended only on October 20 of that year. Successfully. But there were military tests ahead, and only after them, in 1971, the installation was adopted by the Soviet Army.
For the next two years, the plant received an order for four Tulips at once, and the cost of one car was 210 thousand rubles. By the way, one self-propelled "Acacia" cost only 30.5 thousand rubles.
Distinctive features of the new self-propelled gun
As we already said, the barrel and ballistic characteristics remained from the predecessor, almost without undergoing any significant changes. But, unlike the M-240, where the calculation was forced to carry out almost all operations manually, "Tulip" - self-propelled guns equipped with a powerful hydraulic system. It is designed to perform the following operations:
- Transfer guns from combat to marching position and vice versa.
- Vertical aiming mortar barrel.
- Opening the shutter, bringing the barrel to the projectile line.
- Automatic feeding of mines from a mechanized warhead to the ram rails, which are located on the upper part of the chassis.
- In addition, it also charges the mortar and closes the shutter.
Other characteristics
The angle of fire of self-propelled guns 2S4 "Tulip", in contrast to the previous heavy mortar, is approximately +63 ″. Ammunition (mechanical) is located directly in the chassis. There are two stacks in total, and in them one can place either 40 conventional high-explosive shells, or 20 reactive, active type. It should be noted that self-propelled guns can be charged directly from the ground, or using a special crane. Unlike vertical, horizontal aiming at the target remains completely manual.
The designers used the well-proven V-59 diesel engine to create this installation. A powerful power plant allows you to disperse a heavy self-propelled guns to 62.8 km / h on the highway. As for ordinary dirt or gravel roads, the speed of movement on them is about 25-30 km / h.
Mines
The main shell, which most often uses a 2C4 self-propelled mortar, is the standard F-864 mine, which weighs 130.7 kilograms. The weight of the actual explosive is 31.9 kilograms. Here, the GVMZ-7 is used as a fuse, which, as in the case of every self-respecting mine, has a setting for both instant and delayed detonation.
There are five options for knockout charges that can give the mine an initial speed of 158 to 362 m / s. Accordingly, the range of fire in this case varies from 800 to 9650 meters.
The direct igniter charge is located in the tube of the mine tail. Other samples of gunpowder are in annular caps, which are fixed on the same tube using special cords. Already in 1967, the government placed an order for industry to develop and create a special mine with a capacity of 2 kilotons, and three years later work was underway to develop the exact same projectile, but in a reactive version.
Today, Russian armored vehicles are armed with a much more impressive shell ...
"Cheek brings success"
But a real breakthrough occurred in 1983, when the 1K113 Smelchak mine was adopted for the USSR. Actually, this is not even a shell in the classical sense of the word, but a separate artillery complex. It consists of the following components: directly shot ZV84 (2VF4), equipped with high-explosive shell ZF5. In addition, there is a laser range finder / target indicator 1D15 or 1D20.
The course correction unit is located in the warhead of the mine, and aerodynamic control wheels that can quickly and extremely accurately change the position of the projectile in flight are used to adjust the flight. In addition, a change in the flight course can be made using several solid fuel boosters, which are located along the entire mine shell in a radial order.
The benefits of new types of shells
Correction takes no more than 0.1-0.3 seconds. The very order of “bold” shooting is absolutely no different from firing conventional mines, but the operator is required to set the opening time of the optical part and set a timer to turn on the laser target pointer. In general, the target pointer can be activated at a distance of 300-5000 meters from the "destination", after which the enemy object begins to be intensely illuminated by a laser beam. Such Russian armored vehicles are especially important in recent years, when the development of technology is at an incredible pace.
By the way, the active backlight turns on only at the moment when the mine will be at a distance of 400-800 meters from the target. This is done so that the system of suppressing the enemy did not have time to react to the occurrence of a threat. Simply put, the entire laser operating time is no more than three seconds, due to which the probability of opposition from enemy electronics is reduced to zero.
Despite the fact that photos of armored vehicles of this type can leave a false impression of “moral obsolescence,” there is nothing of the kind: the installation of the 70s, when used in conjunction with new, promising shells, could well compete with the best modern models.
In general, the probability of this type of projectile getting into a circle with a diameter of two to three meters is 80-90%. Afghan Mujahideen were convinced of this by their own, sad experience. With the help of "Tulips" and "Daredevils" many of their fortified areas in the mountains were destroyed.
What is such a weapon for?
In general, the “Tulip” is an self-propelled gun, which is simply indispensable for assaulting the enemy’s fortified positions, as well as during hostilities in populated areas. So, in this case, a situation is often encountered when the enemy’s positions begin behind a high apartment building (as it was in Grozny). The advantage of Tulip is that the installation, being placed 10-20 meters from the building, can send a projectile almost vertically upwards so that it falls exactly on the other side, flying over the positions of its troops.
By the way, powerful mine explosions of this caliber make completely indelible impressions on opponents. This is especially true of the fanatical followers of the radical movements of Islam: many of them believe that, having lost their bodies, they will not go to heaven. Accordingly, in the same Afghanistan there were cases when large enemy units left their positions only after learning about the upcoming shelling from the Tulips.
Riddles of history
Many sources have data that these mortars were not used during both Chechen campaigns. In other publications there is evidence that during the assault on the “Minutes” there was still a volley from the “Tulip”. In any case, the hypocritical Dudaev did not fail to bring down a flurry of criticism of the Russian army, accusing it of "using nuclear weapons." The "democratic" press joyfully supported him. It is still not known for sure whether the episode using Tulip took place in reality.
The fog of the unknown is also covered by the armored vehicles of Ukraine: it is still unknown (and it is unlikely that it will ever be made public), how many of these vehicles are in the arsenal of the country.
According to archival data, as of 1989, in the USSR there were at least 400 units of heavy mortars. That is why it can be safely stated that the armored vehicles of Ukraine also include this self-propelled gun, as part of the mortars were based on western borders.
Current state of affairs
After the Second World War, not a single power in the world adopted such weapons. In principle, there are still no mortars in the NATO countries whose caliber would exceed 120 millimeters.
As for Russia, in our country, after the Tulip, the work on heavy mortars was practically curtailed, as the existing models completely satisfied the military. Anyway, the self-propelled gun "Tulip", the photo of which is in the article, has no analogues in the world to this day.