Russian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

First photo of the 2S43 Malva 152mm SPG in the combat front. This is located in the Kharkhiv-Belgorod front in service with Group North.

Improved Russian GShG-7.62 machine gun for protection against naval drones. Russian engineer Igor Vasiliev (possibly Ivan Vasiliev), modified the Soviet four-barreled machine gun GShG-7.62, developed in 1968. Now, several machine guns for testing will be installed on helicopters and boats of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Reportedly, the most effective was hitting Ukrainian naval drones with a machine gun in the doorway of helicopters. The GShG-7.62 machine gun was made electro-mechanical, with automatic operation both from a battery and from the energy of powder gases. Quite often the machine gun overheated; the rate of fire of the machine gun was up to 6000 rounds per minute. Igor Vasiliev figured out how to replace a gas engine with an electric one. The four-barreled machine gun GShG-7.62 was modernized - the mechanical automation was removed, an electric motor and mounts for collimator sights were installed. Now you can arbitrarily change the pace from 5 to 100 shots per second. This increased the time of continuous operation. The machine gun was tested in action while the ship was moving and pitching. The weapon easily hit a meter-long target from a distance of 150–200 meters.

Homemade protection against FPV drones, the so-called king-barbecue, began to be installed on Russian BTR-82A. The armored personnel carrier is also equipped with a homemade mine trawl made from chains. The design of the protection is of course archaic, but now it is more effective than the current electronic warfare systems that protect equipment from FPV drones. It is worth noting that the development of protection and weapons against FPV drones is underway in many countries, but there are still no effectively working and mass-produced copies.

Footage of Russian military personnel using a robotic remote-controlled platform designed for cargo delivery. Despite the high center of gravity, judging by the video, the platform is stable. It is not reported whether it is a homemade design or a factory version, the model name is also unknown. The robotic complex on a wheeled platform is driven by electric motors and controlled using a joystick and tablet. The robotic platform can reach speeds of up to 40 km/h and has a range of up to 40 km. The carrying capacity of the transport platform is up to 250 kilograms.

The Kalashnikov concern has begun serial production of the Russian modernized complex with the Granat-4 UAV; the drone is already in use by the troops. The UAV is produced by the Izhmash - Unmanned Systems company and is designed for reconnaissance of terrain using photo, video and thermal imaging equipment and transmission of the received information over a distance of up to 70 km. Upgraded in 2024, the Granat-4 UAV can now illuminate targets for use by artillery, adjustable artillery ammunition "Krasnopol", "Kitolov" and "Gran", target designation range is up to 3 km. There are few details about the new version; it is known that the control point based on the KamAZ truck used since 2022 has been abandoned. Now remote sets of equipment and more mobile vehicles are used. The Granat-4 UAV is made of composite materials and weighs 30 kg. The UAV is equipped with an internal combustion engine and reaches speeds of up to 140 km/h, with a flight altitude of up to 2000 meters, the UAV flight time is up to 6 hours. The Granat-4 UAV is launched from a catapult and lands by parachute.

The Kalashnikov Concern announced the start of production by the Research Institute of Steel, a Russian modified anti-fragmentation blanket "Egida-U". The video shows the testing of the first version of the Aegis anti-fragmentation blanket. The protective blanket is designed to protect against fragmentation and secondary explosion factors and provides both human protection and local protection when the blanket covers doorways, window openings and other objects. The first version of the protective blanket “Aegis-” stopped more than 85% of fragments of F-1 and RGN grenades; the fragments that managed to pierce the blanket could not cause harm because they had lost their damaging power. Also, a Stechkin pistol with a 9 mm caliber could not penetrate it. The reinforced anti-fragmentation blanket "Egida-U" guarantees complete protection against F-1 and RGN grenades from distances of 3 and 5 meters.
Protective capes can be connected with loops to each other and increase the protection area.
The improved Egida-U protective blanket has been modified to protect against detection by night vision devices and thermal imaging sights. It is also radio transparent and can be used to protect radar station nodes. The Egida-U protective blanket is made of high-strength ballistic aramid fabric and UHMWPE and has a weight of 10 kg, the dimensions of the blanket are 1000 by 2000 millimeters. The price of the Egida-U protective blanket is about 170 thousand rubles or 1900 dollars.

Orlan-30 at work. Here an M777 got illuminated and a Krasnopol took it out in the Avdeyevka sector.

Rare footage of the Russian 120-mm towed gun 2B16 “Nona-K”. The towed gun is quite rare, there are about 100 of them in the Russian army. Previously, we showed the use of the gun by the Ukrainian army, but it was taken from a museum. The Nona-K gun was produced from 1986 to 1989 and combines the capabilities of a cannon, howitzer and mortar; the gun was designed taking into account combat operations in Afghanistan, but was not used there. The 2B16 gun is a towed version of the 2A51 gun, mounted on the 2S9 Nona-S self-propelled artillery gun. The Nona-K gun can fire conventional rifled shells and mines, which are also suitable for a conventional 120-mm mortar. Table of shells and their data on the screen. In terms of their effectiveness, some types of 120-mm shells of this gun are close to 152-mm howitzer shells. The firing range of the Nona-K gun with an active-missile projectile is up to 12,800 meters; it is also possible to use Kitolov-2 guided projectiles. The rate of fire of the 2B16 “Nona-K” gun is up to 10 rounds per minute, the crew of the gun is up to 5 people, the weight is 1200 kg.

Russian military transport aviation ceases operation of the world's largest turboprop transport aircraft, the An-22 Antey. From 2024, the operation of An-22 aircraft will cease, as announced by the commander of the Military Transport Aviation, Lieutenant General Vladimir Benediktov. The lieutenant general clarified that during the existence of the project, a total of 67 An-22 aircraft were produced, some of them are located in Ukraine. According to Benediktov, the 12th Military Transport Aviation Division currently uses the world’s largest mass-produced aircraft, the An-124 Ruslan. The AN-22 made its first flight in 1965; it was produced at the Tashkent aircraft plant; in 1976, turboprop engines began to be considered obsolete and AN-22 aircraft were no longer produced. Instead, they began to produce the Il-76 turbojet military transport aircraft. The AN-22 has a mass of 114,000 kg and is capable of transporting up to 60 tons of cargo over a range of up to 5,250 km, developing a cruising speed of up to 560 km/h and a maximum speed of up to 760 km/h, with a flight altitude of up to 9,000 meters. The practical flight range of the An-22 is up to 10,950 km, crew up to 7 people. The height of the An-22 aircraft is more than 12.5 meters, length is 57 meters, wingspan is 64.4 meters. At the moment, the only air unit using these aircraft in Russia was the 12th Military Transport Aviation Mginskaya Red Banner Division, based at the Migalovo airfield in Tver. As of 2024, it included four An-22s.

Interview of a Buk operator. He has had several UAV and missile kills including HIMARS rockets using his Buk-M1 once the adaptation curve is mastered. One time a HIMARS rocket landed 10 meters away from his machine. The Buk managed to get off only with minor damage thanks to being partly in a dug in position.