The first self-propelled guns 2S1 appeared in Finland in 1992. They were bought by the Ministry of Defence in Germany and were named 122 SpH 74. The total number of self-propelled guns in the operational service of the Finnish Army is 72. Self-propelling floating howitzer 2S1 "Gvozdika" has been developed at Kharkov tractor plant named by S. Ordzhonikidze under the guidance of chief constructor Belousov A.F. and was accepted as Soviet Army armament in 1972. In the USSR, this was the first serial self-propelling floating howitzer with the cannon mounted on traversing tower. The crew consists of four people: a commander, a mechanic-driver, a pointer-operator and a loader. The self-propelling howitzer floats with the speed of 4,5 km/hr. |
