Russia, which is experiencing the Russian-Ukrainian war, is currently updating its combat equipment by summing up the lessons of the war. In terms of artillery, Russia has always believed in the concept that "artillery is the king of war", and introduced a number of new self-propelled howitzer systems in the war, including the mass-produced 2S35 "Soyuz-SV" self-propelled howitzer. However, despite Russia's claims that the 2S35 is technologically advanced and powerful, the system uses a Russian-made 152 mm caliber and a traditional tracked chassis, in contrast to the popular 155 mm vehicle-mounted howitzer at the moment.
During the Russian-Ukrainian war, Russia delivered 2S43 "Mallow" 152-mm vehicle-mounted guns to front-line officers and soldiers as part of the renewal of artillery. However, the actual performance of this system, which was hailed as "modern and powerful" by Baksantik Ozdoev, director of industry at Rostec, can only be described as unsatisfactory. According to data obtained by open-source intelligence, the mobility of 2S43 is the only commendable aspect of it. The use of the BAZ 8x8 heavy high-mobility chassis made it possible for the gun to reach a maximum cross-country range of 1100 km, which is in line with the characteristics of the vast territory of Russia. However, compared to the same type of "Caesar" and the Chinese PCL-181, the top speed of the 2S43 is only 80 kilometers per hour, which is significantly inferior to the opponent.
Despite the fact that the 2S43 has an advantage in maneuverability, it is not quite capable in terms of fire strike capabilities. The system uses a 47-caliber 2A64 152-mm gun, which is unique compared to the mainstream 52-caliber 155 mm. However, when firing a high-explosive grenade, the maximum range of the 2S43 was only 245 km, even with the use of rocket range extender projectiles, its range is only 29 km. This is a very obvious difference compared with the 30 km of the "Caesar" for launching ordinary high-explosive grenades and the 55 km for rocket extended-range bombs. In terms of range and rate of fire, the 2S43 is at a disadvantage compared to both Western advanced artillery and the Chinese PCL-181.
It is worth noting that while Russia has always prided itself on its excellent performance, it is more humble when describing 2s43. An important reason is that the R&D cycle is too short. According to the Russian side, 2S43 was only at the sketch stage in 2019, but by May 2023 it had already passed state tests and signed a contract for mass production. In comparison, the development of 2S35 took 10 years. 2S35 was unveiled at the Victory Parade back on May 9, 2015, but it was not until July 2021 that it was first tested on the front line in East Ukraine, after which at least two more were conducted. The performance of the 2S35 is clearly far ahead of the 2S43, and the 2S43 has been lackluster on the battlefield and has not been praised by the Russian military to date.
However, the short R&D cycle is not the only reason for the poor performance of 2S43. In contrast, the PCL-181, developed by China, was developed in a short period of time and demonstrated more advanced technology. The PCL-181 is equipped with a digital fire control system, including a digital ballistic computer, satellite navigation system, and laser rangefinder, which provides accurate target information and makes the gun more accurate. In addition, to improve the accuracy of shooting, the PCL-181 was equipped with two large hydraulic jacks and two large shovels, which minimized the recoil of the shot. In contrast, 2S43 seems to ignore the needs of combat units and lacks a complete firepower output system.
In general, the 2S43 "Mallow" has a significant gap in performance and technology compared to similar guns. It performed poorly in terms of mobility, range and rate of fire, and lagged significantly behind similar Western and Chinese artillery. Despite Russia's attempts to update its equipment through rapid research and development, in the competition in the field of artillery, the 2S43 seems to have failed to achieve the desired results and may face a severe test in real combat.