2S25 Sprut-SD

SPTP 2S25M Sprut-SDM1. Defense Ministry plans and expected results

As part of the development of the fleet of armored combat vehicles of the airborne troops, a promising self-propelled anti-tank gun (SPTP) 2S25M "Sprut-SDM1" has been developed. To date, experimental equipment of this type has passed part of the tests, and now it is planned to launch mass production with the delivery of finished vehicles to the troops.

Last news

On December 6, Izvestia announced the new plans of the Ministry of Defense in the context of the Airborne Forces. The military department made a fundamental decision to purchase a new SPTP for re-equipping combat units. At the moment, experts are assessing the current state of affairs and the needs of the troops. Based on the results of this analysis, the required quantities of equipment and the volume of purchases will be determined. You will also have to choose the units and subdivisions to which the self-propelled guns will go.

Next year, the Ministry of Defense will begin training crews for new armored vehicles. This task will be solved by the 242nd training center for training junior specialists of the Airborne Forces (Omsk). The details of the planned training course were not specified. The number of future gunners is also unknown, which depends on the volume of orders for equipment.

In August, it became known about the start of state tests. They will be completed in 2022, and after that an official decision will be made on the acceptance of the product into service. Also, the command of the Airborne Forces mentioned the need to purchase at least one divisional set of self-propelled guns.

Thus, the long-term process of developing and fine-tuning a new model of self-propelled artillery is approaching the desired ending. The development of the future "Sprut-SDM1" began in the first half of the tenth years, and in 2015 the first prototype appeared. The next few years were spent carrying out all the necessary tests, which are not yet officially completed.

Imperfect predecessor

According to open data, at present in the Airborne Forces there are up to 36 SPTP 2S25 "Sprut-SD" - the immediate predecessor and basis for the current product 2S25M. Serial production of the first version of the self-propelled gun began in 2005 and lasted until 2010, after which it was curtailed due to a number of serious shortcomings.

"Sprut-SD" was made on a modified tracked chassis of an experimental light tank "Object 934" or "Judge". It generally met the requirements of the armed forces, but there were drawbacks and difficulties. First of all, the choice of the base chassis was criticized. It had insufficient unification with other models of airborne forces, which made it difficult to operate and supply spare parts. There were also claims to certain tactical and technical characteristics.

At the same time, the Airborne Forces recognized the high combat qualities of self-propelled guns, which were based on a 125-mm smooth-bore gun-launcher 2A75 and a modern fire control system. In terms of ammunition, the gun was unified with the 2A46 tank gun - this gave similar fire characteristics.

It was suggested to get out of this situation in an obvious way. It was necessary to rebuild the existing SPTP "Sprut-SD" using a new chassis. Taking into account the approved plans for the development of the Airborne Forces fleet, a modified chassis for the BMD-4M was developed as a new base for self-propelled guns. In addition, it was envisaged to update the on-board equipment complex - according to some reports, using instruments borrowed from the latest projects for the modernization of main tanks.

Consequences of the update

The unification of the armored vehicles of the Airborne Forces is of great importance and seriously affects the potential of the "winged infantry". Currently, a program is being implemented to modernize the existing fleet, both by updating existing machines and by building new ones. During these processes, measures are taken to optimize various aspects of operations and reduce costs without compromising combat effectiveness.


In the airborne forces there are about 1300-1400 airborne combat vehicles of various models. The basis of this park is made up of relatively old BMD-2 in the amount of approx. 1000 units The number of modern BMD-4Ms should already exceed 200 units, and their production continues. In the field of armored personnel carriers, a similar situation is observed. The most massive, 700 units, remain the old BTR-D. The number of modern BTR-MDM so far does not exceed 90-100 units, but it grows with each new batch of equipment.

The ranks have approx. 250 self-propelled artillery pieces "Nona-S" in the basic and modernized versions. These vehicles are built on the BTR-D chassis and are unified with the BMD-1/2. Finally, more than 30 SPTP "Sprut-SD" were built on a completely new chassis that has nothing to do with the BMD / BTR-D line.

In the foreseeable future, the development of the fleet of armored vehicles of the Airborne Forces will follow obvious paths. If possible, older models will be upgraded, but some will be decommissioned. Their place will be taken by modern BMD-4M and BTR-MDM, as a result of which their absolute and relative number will grow over time.

In the current situation, when the troops are simultaneously using equipment on several platforms, new models should be built on the basis of the most modern chassis. This is the approach used in the Sprut-SDM1 project. Thanks to this, in the distant future, when obsolete vehicles are removed from service, only equipment on the modern BMD-4M platform will remain in service.

Combat advantages

The promising SPTP 2S25M "Sprut-SDM1", together with other airborne equipment, will be able to be transported by military transport aircraft and parachuted. The self-propelled gun will be able to use modern parachute systems developed for the BMD-4M and BTR-MDM. Full-fledged operation of artillery and landing vehicles in the same battle formations is also ensured. The equipment moves freely on land and is able to overcome water obstacles by swimming.

The 2S75 gun is as close as possible to the 2A46 tank gun in terms of fire characteristics and uses the same ammunition of all types. During the modernization "Sprut-SDM1" receives a new fire control system based on digital devices with day and night thermal imaging sights. Thanks to this, the characteristics of the FCS of tanks and self-propelled guns are almost the same. Due to modern means of communication, the 2S25M is integrated into the standard control systems of the tactical level of the Airborne Forces.

In fact, the "winged infantry" gets its own light tank, suitable for landing in the required area and capable of fighting well-protected armored objects or enemy fortifications. The presence of such a vehicle significantly increases the overall firepower of a subunit or formation and makes it possible to more efficiently perform assigned tasks. A similar technique is already in the units, and in the future its number will increase.

Waiting for new items

In the recent past, the Airborne Forces received a number of 2S25 Sprut-SD self-propelled anti-tank guns. With all its advantages, this technique is few in number and has some operational disadvantages. Nevertheless, measures were taken, which resulted in the modernized "Sprut-SDM1".

The new self-propelled gun has entered state tests, and the Ministry of Defense is already making further plans. In the near future, it will study the needs of the airborne troops and determine the required volumes of orders. After 2022, the self-propelled gun will go into series, and then go into service and will allow the Airborne Forces to complete the protracted process of mastering the most important anti-tank weapon.

I had posted the news about India trying to procure the Sprut-SDM1. Now, Indian media is reporting that India will also take part in the trials of the Sprut-SDM1 system starting late summer.

https://theprint.in/defence/india-sets-eyes-on-russian-sprut-light-tanks-to-counter-china-gets-rare-access-to-trials/676057/

State trials of Russia’s Sprut-SDM1 light amphibious tank to be completed in early 2022

https://tass.com/defense/1307507

Light tank "Sprut-SDM1" completed the first stage of state tests

The place of the gunner-operator of the Sprut-SD

Inside the 2S25M Sprut-SDM1

Was also used at Zapad-21!

2S25M1

A question: who seat at the flanks of the driver.?
I mean: in a BMD or in a BMPT there are grenade launchers or machine guns operators in such positions but here I see they have neither a visor to loook out.

From what I can see it has a crew of three... gunner, commander, and driver... but there are five positions and five hatches, so it seems to have two spare seats...

There does not seem to be any hull mounted weapon positions for guns or grenade launchers... perhaps it is future proofed so in the future unmanned turrets could be fitted, or more likely the vehicle it is based upon had those positions and they didn't change them because they don't want to store ammo there.

GarryB wrote:

From what I can see it has a crew of three... gunner, commander, and driver... but there are five positions and five hatches, so it seems to have two spare seats...

There does not seem to be any hull mounted weapon positions for guns or grenade launchers... perhaps it is future proofed so in the future unmanned turrets could be fitted, or more likely the vehicle it is based upon had those positions and they didn't change them because they don't want to store ammo there.

Any lightly armored vehicle like this in 2022 needs APS as in ASAP. Otherwise, it is a metallic coffin on treads.

They mention in the video that it is about 23 tons with its add on armour, so we see it in its naked form.

I rather suspect when it is not naked it has ARENA 2 at least.

Rostec has completed testing of the upgraded 2S25 tank destroyer

Deputy Head of Rostec Artyakov announced the completion of state tests of the 2S25 anti-tank gun

August 12, 2022, 07: 16

Tests of the upgraded 125-mm self-propelled anti-tank gun 2S25 have been completed, and it may soon enter service in the Russian army. This statement was made on August 12 by First Deputy General Director of Rostec Corporation Vladimir Artyakov.

"Its (2S25 guns — Ed.) state tests have already been completed. In the near future, we expect to assign the letter "O1" to this model, after which the machine can be put into service," Artyakov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

He also noted the high combat qualities of the anti-tank gun — the ability to overcome water obstacles and at the same time shoot afloat and the ability to conduct combat operations in various difficult natural conditions. The firepower of this gun corresponds to the T-80 and T-90 tanks, and the mobility is comparable to the BMD-4M amphibious assault vehicle and the BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle. The 2C25 gun has no competitors either in Russia or in the world, Artyakov stressed.

The improved 2S25 cannon is an armored tracked floating vehicle with a powerful artillery and missile system and is intended primarily for units of the Russian Airborne Forces. It is capable of landing from the air with a crew inside and making marches at a distance of up to 500 km without refueling.

https://iz.ru/1378568/2022-08-12/rostekh-zavershil-ispytaniia-modernizirovannogo-istrebitelia-tankov-2s25

10/19/2022
RIA Novosti

Rostec announced what shells the new 2S25M anti-tank gun received



Airborne self-propelled anti-tank gun 2S25 "Sprut-SD".
Image source: RIA Novosti / Alexey Kudenko



Rostec: new 2S25M anti-tank gun received shells with remote detonation

MOSCOW, October 18 - RIA Novosti. The new Russian self-propelled anti-tank gun 2S25M received shells with remote detonation, Bekhan Ozdoev, industrial director of the Rostec weapons complex, told RIA Novosti.

"Unlike its predecessor, the new version of the machine has the ability to fire high-explosive fragmentation ammunition with remote detonation, which significantly increased the effectiveness of the fight against light fortifications and enemy manpower," he said.

Ozdoev added that the 2S25M weapon system also provides for the use of modern armor-piercing sub-caliber, cumulative and high-explosive fragmentation shells with a direct fire range of up to 5 kilometers.
According to open sources, remotely detonated projectiles explode at the required trajectory point calculated by the fire control system (FCS) of a self-propelled gun.

This, for example, allows you to effectively hit the enemy's manpower, who took refuge in a trench - the projectile explodes at the moment when it reaches a point exactly above the trench in flight. As a result, enemy soldiers are exposed to damaging factors in the form of fragments, high-explosive action and shock waves.

There are different principles of controlled detonation of shells. One of the principles suggests that the time of detonation of the projectile, calculated by the FCS for a specific target, is entered into the ammunition using a special device - a programmer, which is usually located at the end of the gun barrel. Another way - the time of undermining the projectile is transmitted by a laser beam through a special sensor at the bottom of the ammunition.

https://vpk.name/news/642865_rosteh_soobshil_kakie_snaryady_poluchila_novaya_protivotankovaya_pushka_2s25m.html

The main problem with time of flight fuses is the cost... to get it accurate enough to be useful it needs to be incredibly precise, which means the timer needs to be incredibly accurate... the more accurate it is the more useful it is but also the more expensive it is.

Normally the timer fuse is set as the round is loaded into the gun, though on some AA guns there is an induction coil at the muzzle that sets the fuse as the round leaves the barrel. WWII AA guns had manually set time fuses that were set with a spanner and loaded into the gun to hit aircraft flying at a specific height.

The laser detonation system is much cheaper... a laser sensor in the back of the shell which is covered when the shell is fired but the cover comes off after it leaves the barrel means the shell can be detonated as it passes the target... all the timing equipment can be in the tank and can be super accurate because it is used with every shot and not destroyed every time it is used.

Battlefield smoke can interfere with the signal however so I believe they are using radio command detonating shells for their 30mm and 57mm and 125mm direct fire cannon rounds because it works through smoke and bad weather and still uses very precise timers on the vehicles which are reused.

The shells themselves are very simple with no complex parts and can be mass produced in enormous numbers and therefore used a lot as well.

The main problem with ANIET was the precision level was not high enough to keep the rounds affordable so the round could detonate early or late... another issue is that being a fuse system for standard HE Frag shells most of the fragments go sideways, which is good for shooting over front cover like a man in a trench or a helicopter hovering behind a tree with a mast mounted radar popping over the top... lase the mast raise the point of aim a little and fire and the round should explode directly above the helicopter sending a shower of fragments down through the rotor arc and shattering the top canopy of most helicopters...

In fact newer tanks like the T-14 with MMW radar for their APS systems could potentially use the radar to range the target and track the outgoing shell and transmit a radio command to detonate the shell at precisely the right moment. The shells could have corner reflectors on the backs of them so they are easy to track.

25.10.2022
RIA Nоvosti

Rostec: a new 2S25M self-propelled gun will be equipped with a suppression system


Industrial director of the Rostec weapons complex Bekhan Ozdoev.
Image Source: Rostec

Rostec: the new 2S25M gun will be equipped with an optical-electronic suppression system

MOSCOW, October 24 - RIA Novosti. The new Russian self-propelled anti-tank gun 2S25M will be equipped with an optical-electronic suppression system and additional armor, Bekhan Ozdoev, industrial director of the Rostec weapons complex, told RIA Novosti.
"Currently, the High Precision Systems holding, which is part of Rostec, is working on the possibility of strengthening the protection of the 2S25M by installing an optical-electronic suppression complex on it, as well as an additional armor kit. These measures will improve the security of the crew and the survivability of the vehicle on the battlefield," - he said.

According to open sources, optoelectronic suppression systems installed on armored vehicles are necessary, in particular, to disrupt the operation of anti-tank guided missile guidance systems.
Earlier, Ozdoev told RIA Novosti that the new Russian self-propelled anti-tank gun 2S25M received shells with remote detonation, which significantly increased the effectiveness of the fight against light fortifications and enemy manpower.

According to open data, shells with remote detonation explode at the required point of the trajectory calculated by the fire control system. This, for example, allows you to effectively hit the enemy's manpower, who took refuge in a trench - the projectile explodes at the moment when it reaches a point exactly above the trench in flight.

The 2S25M self-propelled anti-tank gun on a caterpillar chassis was designed and built by Kurganmashzavod PJSC (part of the High-Precision Systems). It is armed with a 125 mm caliber artillery and missile system, can be transported by ships and aircraft, and can be landed and parachuted. The self-propelled gun develops speed on the highway at 70 kilometers per hour, afloat - up to 9 kilometers per hour.

https://vpk.name/news/645432_rosteh_novuyu_samohodnuyu_pushku_2s25m_osnastyat_kompleksom_podavleniya.html

Its not that the Ainet time delay fuzes are inaccurate or expensive when in fact, its just the opposite.

If you want metre precision it has to be a very precise and accurate timer, and to detonate a round above a trench does require very precise time keeping.

That is what killed the US 20mm automatic grenade launcher/rifle grenade, because the timers in the grenades were just too expensive.

(in comparison the Soviets had a airburst grenade for their underbarrel grenade launchers for four decades, but it cheats... it doesn't use a precise timer and ballistic computer... it merely uses a small bounding charge and short fuse to the main charge like a bounding mine... simple and cheap for use against ground targets but no good for air targets of course.).

The problem is the time setting is just an extrapolation of the ballistic computer programmed prior to ramming the round in the breech. There is no guarantee the same conditions during the calculation would apply after firing - the wind could have shifted or the vehicle moved a hundred meters ahead to a new firing position and the shell would misfire, etc. - through no fault of the fuze at all.

It was no good against a flying target or fast moving target, but against those there is a guided missile round.

For a fixed target like a trench or a group of enemy troops behind a solid wall, it was very good.

Another issue is that the Ainet fuze requires a laser range finding prior to effective use. This of course telegraphs to the victim that he is under attack and even from which exact direction so you might lose the chance to fire a couple rounds with impunity.

A smart crew can solve that dilemma by lasing something beside the target at the same distance away.

The distance could also be entered manually so for instance some dead ground in front of your position could be pre registered in case it was reported that enemy troops were using it to close the distance to you.

In fact often they would modify a distance on purpose... say enemy troops are firing from behind a rock wall. The amount of ammo it would take to bring down the whole wall would be enormous... but lasing the distance to the wall and adding 5 metres to it... raising your gun to fire over the wall and launching a HE Frag round to explode just beyond the wall would be a common tactic.

Battlefield smoke would also make it impossible to properly observe the shell through its flight so you would need a very capable radar to track the outgoing projectile to properly trigger it.

I would presume the radar would work like the laser, with an optical sight pointed at the target in question and ranged using radar waves... then distance added or deducted from the range and then the round fired... the radar tracking the out going round and when it reaches the set distance a radio command is sent to set off the round... or something along those lines.

The Russians use new HE-frag shells with preformed fragments. If the fuze triggers early you get a shower of fragments from the front section, late the sides. It even seems based on gun cams from Syria and Ukraine plunging fire with Ainet fuze shells is the favored tactic against infantry.

That is interesting because the old HE Frag shells the fuse was in the nose and the fragments were essentially the walls of the HE shell so most of the fragments go sideways and straight up and straight down... such a round design is rather better for mortar or Howitzer fire with plunging shells where the shell sides create an even circular pattern as it comes down vertically.

Some sort of forward facing array of fragments that blow forward like a shotgun blast would be rather more effective against enemy troops in the open... just range the front guy and take 20m off the range and fire...

Because that was the main task of this round.
It was created to hit soft-skinned/personnel hidden behind obstacles and/or tranches.
Calling that per name, ATGM teams, and vehicles.

There was also the potential for hitting HATO helicopters... unlike Russian helicopters, HATO helicopters like to hover behind cover... a building or rock outcrop or just concealment like a tree... but often the heat signatures from their engines and the glimpse of their spinning main rotor blades gives them away... lase the thing they are hovering behind and then add some metres depending on what it is and how big it is and then fire an ANIET round over top to explode above the helicopters main rotor... at the very least would shatter the main rotor and cover the crew in fragments coming down and destroy the aircraft... more reliable than trying to shoot through with an APFSDS round...