The Magnolia is part of Russia's next-generation artillery system designed for its Navy Arctic Brigade. (Image source: Military Today)
Russia’s newest Arctic artillery complex, called “Magnolia,” has begun mass production.
Magnolia’s development was first announced in 2017, with its technical details revealed in late 2019 when Russian Army Commander-in-Chief Army General Oleg Salyukov said in an interview that Russia was wrapping up work on its Nabrosok experimental design, which would develop a family of highly mobile artillery and mortar armaments mounted on various types of chassis. Two years later, the state-owned Uralvagonzavod defense manufacturer confirmed the timeline for the mass production of the next-generation Russian artilleries at the Army-2021 International Military-Technical Forum.
“The mass production of these models [the Floks and Magnolia artilleries] will begin after the completion of the state trials in late 2022 – early 2023, provided that the state customer makes the corresponding decision,” the Uralvagonzavod press office said.
During the forum, prototypes of the Magnolia were displayed alongside another recent Russian war machine, the Floks self-propelled wheeled artillery system. At that time, both of these prototypes were at their final stage of preliminary trials.
According to the technical specifications leaked, Magnolia is a 120mm self-propelled artillery gun based on the DT-30PM two-section tracked armored chassis. The Burevestnik Central Research Institute developed its next-generation artillery gun under the Nabrosok experimental program. The machine can perform various tasks – specializing in remote, difficult climatic conditions areas like the wetlands in the Far North, the harsh Arctic environment, and the isolated parts of Siberia.
Magnolia also includes a cannon mounted on a two-link tracked all-terrain vehicle called the DT-10PM Vityaz, which has a capacity of about 11 tons and weighs about 30 tons, and is powered by an 800 horsepower B-46 5C diesel engine, allowing the platform to reach top speeds of 45 km/h on land and up to 6 km/h when overcoming water barriers, with a battery range of up to 700 km.
Furthermore, the artillery complex’s rear hull was outfitted with a 120mm rifled semi-automatic gun 2A80, a cannon with the combined power of a howitzer gun and mortar, and an overall design that allows its “gunners to perform a circular horizontal pickup as well as elevate the gun barrel at an angle ranging from negative five to 80 degrees.” For specific assaults, it can chamber a Kitolov-2M precision-guided munition and is compatible with other Soviet/Russian-made munitions such as High-explosive anti-tank (HEAT), High explosive fragmentation (HE-FRAG), and smoke munitions.
According to reports, Magnolia’s cannon can fire high-explosive fragmentation projectiles up to 8.5 km away, and the range can be extended to 10 km when guided rockets are used. Subsequently, the fire rate is ten rounds/min with an ammo load of 80. What’s more, the new artillery system is said to be capable of firing ammunition and anti-tank guided missiles and performing air defense and electronic warfare.
Magnolia will be commissioned into the Russian Navy’s Arctic Brigade next year along with the other next-generation artillery systems.
Some experts compare the Magnolia to another Russian artillery, the 2S42 Lotos self-propelled mortar system of the Russian Air Force, but with “a much better cross-country ability” and went as far as dubbing it the best all-terrain self-propelled mortar in the world – despite not yet being tested in real-life combat.
Will these, however, be powerful enough to take out Ukraine’s US-supplied artilleries?
Since the United States began sending military support to the Ukrainian forces against the Russian invaders, it has been nothing but sort of demoralizing the latter as it keeps on curbing its efforts to fully infiltrate its neighbor.
One of the artilleries the US lent the embattled nation on the battlefield is the lightweight 155mm M-777 howitzers, and it has been among the most effective weapon since the beginning of the Russian-Ukraine war.
Andy Vermaut shares:The US Has Given Ukraine 800,000 155 mm Artillery Shells: Ukrainian troops fire a M777 at the front line in the Kharkiv region on July 21. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
“Almost immediately after their arrival in Ukraine in May, reports of M777 systems destroying Russian targets began emerging on social media,” Business Insider reported. Though it may have lost a fair amount of units, too, it’s just a bit compared to the artillery losses of the Russian army coupled with the fact that Ukrainian gunners were already outstanding at counterbattery firing. The “Triple Seven” just boosted their skills to the maximum.
Thanks to the intelligence provided by the Special Operations Forces, M777 operated by National Guard of Ukraine destroyed three russian MLRS Grad in the area of Severodonetsk. 🔥🔥🔥 Footage by 🇺🇦 Special Operations Forces pic.twitter.com/L7TYd9WMIL
Another powerful US-provided weapon that Ukrainian troops remarkably used is the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) which played a crucial role in reclaiming sovereignty in Russian-captured regions and defending both its land and airspace.
Although the self-propelled mortar system was initially developed to defend its Arctic region, some experts suggest it could be sent to Ukraine once completed to assist the invasion.
Now, on whether or not the Russian Magnolia will tip the war’s current tide, only time will tell. But one thing is certain: the aggressors need to produce a hell-lot of their new-generation arteries to dominate the battlefield against Ukraine and its Western allies.
What do you think? Will the Magnolia be a game-changer if ever sent to Ukraine? Let us know in the comments.
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