According to a video report from the TV show "Evening with Vladimir Solovyov" shown on February 10, 2025, the newly formed artillery battalion of the 238th Separate Guards Artillery Brigade of the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the special military operation zone in Ukraine received new 152-mm self-propelled guns 2C44 "Hyacinth-K" on a wheeled the chassis.
152 mm/50 self-propelled gun 2S44 "Hyacinth-K" on a wheeled chassis as part of the 238th Separate Guards Artillery Brigade of the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the zone of special military operation in Ukraine, February 2025 (c) a frame from the TV show "Evening with Vladimir Solovyov" (via @btvt2019)
According to known data, these 2C44 Hyacinth-K systems are a new version of the 2C43 Malva self-propelled gun on the BAZ-6910-027 Voschina (8x8) wheeled chassis, with the installation of the swinging part of the 152 mm/50 towed 2A36 Hyacinth-B cannon. Developed by Central Research Institute Burevestnik JSC (Nizhny Novgorod, part of Uralvagonzavod Scientific and Production Corporation JSC) and in small-scale production since 2023, the 2C43 Malva self-propelled gun is equipped with a 152 mm/47 swinging part 2A64 of the 2C19 Msta-S self-propelled howitzer. In practice, the 2A64 cannon with a 16-liter charging chamber is already obviously outdated and, in terms of its ballistic characteristics, corresponds only to Western 155 mm/39 howitzers (the maximum firing range of a conventional projectile is about 24 km). As a result, as expected, the inability of the 2C43 Malva to match the range of modern Western 155-mm/52 howitzers currently widely used by the armed forces of Ukraine, made in accordance with the NATO Joint Ballistics Memorandum of Understanding (JBMoU), having a charging chamber volume of 23-25 liters, and due to This is achieved by reaching a maximum firing range of 30-32 km with a conventional projectile .
Under these conditions, as can be judged, an emergency modernization of the 2C43 Malva was carried out with the creation of the 2C44 Hyacinth-K variant with the superimposition of the swinging part of the 152 mm/50 towed 2A36 Hyacinth-B cannon. The volume of the 2A36 charging chamber is already 27 liters, and also due to constructive and ballistic solutions and the use of specially designed shots (incompatible with the shots of the Msta series howitzers), its maximum range reaches 30.5 km.
For the first time, the 2C44 Hyacinth-K samples "lit up" in a report by the Ministry of Defense from one of the training grounds in December 2024, and judging by the close-up images of one of the samples, the barrel from the towed 2A36 Hyacinth-B cannon was installed on it. Since the production of swinging parts 2A36/2A37 for Hyacinth series guns, according to known data, was discontinued in 1993, then, apparently, barrels from towed guns from storage are installed on the 2C44 Hyacinth-K systems, which raises questions about the large-scale nature of such a solution. The obvious disadvantage of the 2C43 and 2C44 systems remains their bulkiness.
According to bmpd, the issue of the obvious backlog of domestic 152 mm artillery systems should be resolved by the long overdue adoption of the NATO JBMoU Ballistic Memorandum and the transition to 155 mm caliber with 23-25 liter charging chambers, similar to what has already been done in China and the DPRK.
152 mm/50 self-propelled gun 2S44 "Hyacinth-K" on a wheeled chassis as part of the 238th Separate Guards Artillery Brigade of the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the special military operation zone in Ukraine, February 2025. Long-range 3OF59 projectiles are used for shooting (c) a frame from the TV show "Evening with Vladimir Solovyov"
