Russia creates a new high-power artillery battalion with 2S4 Tyulpan self-propelled mortars in service.

On 1 December, in the artillery brigade of the 2nd combined arms army stationed in the Orenburg region, the first alignment of the new battalion’s personnel took place and a solemn transfer to them of the new vehicles received by the state defenсe order.

“Today we handed over 8 heavy self-propelled mortars 2S4 Tyulpan to the personnel of the artillery battalion during the official ceremony,” Major General Roman Berdnikov said.

Also, Roman Berdnikov noted that the appearance of such an artillery battalion will greatly enhance combat capabilities.

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The 2S4 Tyulpan is a self-propelled mortar based on the GMZ tracked minelaying vehicle carrying an externally mounted M-240 240 mm breech-loading mortar on the rear of the hull.

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The mortar has a range of 9,650 m but an extended range munition exists with a possible range of 20,000 m. Due to the large size of the weapon and the weight of the ammunition (130 kg for a standard projectile) it has a slow rate of fire: one round per minute. In addition to the high explosive bombs, it can fire armour-piercing, chemical and nuclear rounds. It can also fire the “Smel’chak” (“Daredevil”), a laser-guided round.