Since the “great retreat” of 1915 of the Russian army in World War I, large-caliber guns have been the focus of attention of the Russian and Soviet leadership.
Reasons for the appearance
Even the rapid development of aviation and rocket technology did not remove large-caliber artillery systems from the category of priority ones. Only in the short period of Khrushchev’s reign was there an attempt to bet on missiles to the detriment of the barrel artillery. The re-equipment of the Soviet Army was associated with the need to replace weapons systems developed during the Patriotic War. Not all of them corresponded to the concept of use in the modern army. The saturation of troops with highly maneuverable armored vehicles, aircraft, and missile weapons contrasted with the slow-moving towed artillery systems that formed the basis of large-caliber artillery. Enemy troops also developed on the basis of the concept of rapid massive impact. The time of active battery combat activity depended more and more on the ability to quickly take up positions for striking and the ability to evade retaliation. In the late sixties of the twentieth century, the development of the Hyacinth self-propelled artillery system began. The new generation weapons fully meet modern challenges.
General appearance 2C5 "Hyacinth"
The main objective of the system is the fire support of the ground forces during the conduct of hostilities. Destruction of long-term and equipped fortified points, defeat of clusters of enemy manpower and equipment. The Hyacinth system, the instrument of which allows firing at a distance of almost forty kilometers with 152-mm shells of various equipment, from HE to nuclear, allows solving tasks that cannot be accomplished by other means. Counter-battery combat against enemy artillery is one of the most important functions. Installation 2C5 "Hyacinth" maximally corresponds to it. High mobility and rate of fire, short deployment time for positions provide surprise and reduce vulnerability to retaliation. The armor protects the crew from fragments, which allows the self-propelled gun to operate even at the forefront.
Platform
The combat platform was developed by the Ural Transport Engineering Plant in the early seventies. The gun was mounted in an open manner on the armored self-propelled chassis of the Hyacinth installation, without a conning tower. A 520 horsepower diesel engine is installed in front of the machine. The calculation of the gun during movement is located in the machine body, protected by armor from one to three centimeters. Operator and gunner’s places during movement are located on the sides of the machine, on both sides of the ammunition. Behind the driver’s hatch, a commander’s turret equipped with surveillance and communication systems is installed in the frontal part of the vehicle. A 7.62-mm machine gun is installed there as a self-defense weapon.
Gun placement
When moving, the implement is in the transport position, placed horizontally along the machine body. When firing, it is translated into a combat position with an angle of inclination of up to 60 degrees vertically. The recoil of the gun is perceived not only by the body of the machine, but also by the stern base plate resting on the ground. During the position change, the base plate is lifted hydraulically to the rear of the housing. Combat nutrition of the guns with separate loading shots is carried out using a semi-automatic system. In addition to sending shells and shells from a portable warhead to the machine, it is possible to supply charges from the ground. For this , the Hyacinth installation is equipped with an ammunition loader and a conveyor.
Gun capabilities
A 152-mm cannon is capable of firing up to forty kilometers, depending on the type of projectile. The shot of the gun includes a shell and a shell, fed to the breech separately. The rate of fire of a gun when loading from an internal mechanized warhead is five to six rounds per minute. The internal transportable ammunition contains thirty shots of separate loading, providing the rate of fire and autonomy of self-propelled guns. Compared to towed guns of the same purpose, the deployment time is five times less for the Hyacinth system. The weapon is highly effective in counter-battery control, ahead of previous models, according to experts, by twenty-five percent.
Ammunition Used
The main type of ammunition for the guns are high-explosive shells. In normal equipment, they can fire up to thirty kilometers. The use of active-reactive versions of OFS increases this parameter to thirty-five to thirty-seven kilometers. Destruction of point targets is carried out using guided projectiles with laser illumination "Krasnopol" and "Centimeter". Despite the shorter flight range, limited to twelve to twenty kilometers, they turn the 2C5 Hyacinth into a high-precision weapon. The caliber of the gun allowed the introduction of several types of shells with a nuclear warhead from two tenths to two kilotons of TNT in the ammunition load. The range of ammunition demonstrates the widest range of capabilities of the system - from sniper shooting with guided projectiles to the use of tactical nuclear weapons.
Arming
After a series of tests that lasted from 1970, the machine was put into service in 1975 and went into serial production. The Soviet Army received a modern multifunctional machine weighing about 30 tons with a large range of supplies on the highway and range of fire. In addition to the Soviet Army, 152 mm self-propelled guns 2S5 Hyacinth was delivered to the armed forces of Finland, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Modern modifications
Significant modernization potential of the 2C5 Hyacinth system was realized after the machine entered the troops. Work was carried out on the development of aiming and pointing systems, improving communications and navigation. A new long-range projectile with a gas-dynamic accelerator was developed for the gun. A 155 mm gun and a howitzer system were installed on the platform.
Combat use
For the outstanding characteristics of combat power in the Soviet and Russian army, the system was assigned the comic name "genocide". The baptism of fire in Afghanistan 2C5 Hyacinth passed with flying colors. His calculations covered the transport and combat convoys, suppressed the firing points of dushmans. The running gear, which is the heiress of the chassis of the legendary front-line SU-100, has proven itself well. In difficult mountainous conditions, it has demonstrated high reliability and survivability, showing superiority over modern developments. After all, the T-64 tank with a specially designed chassis had to be withdrawn from Afghanistan because of reliability problems. The end of the Afghan war did not end the combat biography. A self-propelled 152-mm cannon was used during the suppression of resistance by Chechen terrorists. Also during the war in Ukraine, the 2C5 Hyacinth system is used. Photo and video materials indicate the use of large-caliber guns for shelling the cities of Donetsk and Lugansk regions.