To fight the terrorists, the Nigerian army intends to use its most powerful self-propelled artillery. We are talking about the 155-mm Palmaria of Italian production, which were delivered in the 80s.
They are made on the chassis of the Oto Melara company and the almost forgotten main battle tank OF-40.
Interestingly, if the tanks themselves were built only 36, and they were purchased only by the United Arab Emirates (removed from service), then the self-propelled guns-already 187 units. Moreover, Nigeria purchased only 39 vehicles, the rest went to Libya,where they are still fighting.
In total, Gaddafi planned to receive 251 self-propelled guns, but due to sanctions, deliveries were stopped.
Palmaria, even despite its almost 40-year-old age, looks quite decent. For example, it can hit targets with a high-explosive fragmentation shell at a distance of up to 24,000 meters, with the use of active-rocket ammunition, the range increases to 30,000 meters.
Rate of fire - 9 rounds per minute. Ammunition-40 rounds.
A 7.62 mm anti-aircraft machine gun is mounted on the turret. The power of the German engine is 750 hp. The maximum speed on the highway is 60 km/h.
Interestingly, the self-propelled gun can not only overcome fords up to 1.2 meters deep, but also, when using equipment for underwater driving, force rivers with a depth of 4 m.
Power reserve - 500 km. Combat weight-46,000 kg. Crew - 5 people.
The Nigerian army has tried to compensate for this by having Field Artillery Units establishing a fire base for their howitzer artillery at the fringes of Lake Chad. The Palmaria self propelled howitzers and FH-77 artillery are capable of hitting targets up to 20 miles away. pic.twitter.com/5gZTLoRgFd
— Defense News Nigeria (@DefenseNigeria) May 19, 2021
Alexey Moiseev
