Despite the embargo from the West, Russia continues to receive more new units of the 2S7M Malka super cannon. Previously, many observers said that, with the tightening of chip supply, Russia could hardly produce and put into operation modern weapons. The 2S7 Malka is a Soviet self-propelled 203mm artillery system. These super cannons has the striking range of 55.5km. The older versions of the 2S7 cannons are used by a large number of countries including the Ukrainian Army, Ukraine has approximately 80 units of older Pion 2S7 cannons, which are being used against the Russian Army since the beginning of War in Donbas (2014–2022).
Uraltransmach company on October 13 said that it is preparing to hand over a newly upgraded batch of 2S7M Malka super cannons to the Russian Army.
2S7M Malka is an upgraded varient from the 2S7 Pion self-propelled howitzer, in this varient Russia has focused on improving the fire control system as well as improving the power delivery system of the gun engine to achieve better performance.
It is possible that after being put into service, these new 2S7M Malka super cannons will be used by the Russian Armed Forces in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War.
The 2S7M Malka super cannon is currently the largest caliber artillery gun currently being used in the Russia-Ukraine War. Moscow has decided to deploy this weapon in large numbers in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War.
Russian Media has claimed that the 2S7 Malka guns has shown very good performance in the ongoing military operation in Ukraine.
With powerful destructive power due to its large caliber size and long range, 2S7M Malka has already caused heavy damage to the Ukrainian Army.
“The Artillery of the Russian Armed Forces continues to attack the positions, strongpoints an gathering areas of military equipments of Ukraine. The 2S7M Malka super cannons batteries also participated in the attack on the artillery positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces”. The Russian Ministry of Defense said in May, 2022.
Some published video clips by Russia shows the 2S7M Malka super cannons servicemen maneuvering the giant gun into proper firing position, loading shells, and firing on Ukrainian Army 2S7 Pion and D-30 122mm howitzers.
Same like Ukraine, Russia also uses unmanned aerial vehicles to indicate targets to artillery units.
When having the exact coordinates, these cannons simultaneously opened fire, shot at enemy, then retreated to avoid counter-fire.
In the Ukrainian Battlefield this 203 mm self-propelled howitzer was used by both Russia and Ukraine. While Kiev uses the 2S7 Pion varient, moscow uses the more advanced 2S7M Malka varient.
Although Ukraine has good numbers of this super cannons, but kiev lacks the proper supply of ammunition for this artillery gun plus they have the older soviet-era guns so overall these guns are not very effective for the Ukrainian Army.
The Soviet Union is the birthplace of various types of advanced weapons and 2S7 Pion is one of them. Until now, this is still one of the most powerful cannon in the world, it even has the capacity to fire nuclear warheads.
The Soviet Union started researching and producing this type of artillery in the 1970s. This is a strategic long-range artillery system that has been produced on a scale of more than a thousand guns.
After its successful development, the Soviet Union expected this to be a weapon that would make a turning point in the battlefield.
There was a time when it was thought that the days of artillery systems are over, and they will be replaced by missiles.
However, the recent conflicts in Ukraine, Syria and Libya shows the importance of artillery guns.
Using artillery guns in the battlefield still creates a devastating effect for the enemy units, also artillery is cheaper as compared to missiles.
The cost of a single missile can be several times more than that of an artillery shell, launching a large number of shells on enemy will create destructive power effects and will also cause panic in the enemy.
The 2S7 Pion self-propelled howitzer uses a specially designed crawler chassis, the gun is equipped with a 750 hp diesel engine, giving the gun a top speed of 51km/h and a range of 500km.