The 2S5 ''Giatsint-S'' (russian: 2С5 «Гиацинт-С»; en, hyacinth) is a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

/Russian 152 mm self-propelled gun. "2S5" is its GRAU designation. It has nuclear, biological, and chemical protection. The 2S5 is capable of engaging targets at longer ranges and at a higher rate of fire than the more widely produced

2S3 Akatsiya The SO-152 (Russian: СО-152) is a Soviet 152.4 mm self-propelled gun developed in 1968, as a response to the American 155 mm M109 howitzer. Development began in 1967, according to the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Sovie ...

152 mm self-propelled gun, and is capable of firing nuclear projectiles.

Production history

Production of the 2S5 Giatsint-S started in 1976 along with the towed version the

2A36 Giatsint-B The 2A36 Giatsint-B (russian: Гиацинт; "Hyacinth") is a Soviet/Russian towed 152 mm field gun which entered service in 1975. The 2A36 is designed to suppress and destroy enemy manpower and equipment. It is also suitable for counter-b ...

. It uses a chassis modified from the SA-4 Krug surface-to-air missile system with good cross-country mobility, and can carry 30 152 mm rounds with a range of 28 kilometers, or 33-40 kilometers for rocket-assisted projectiles. In addition to high explosives, the gun can also fire HEAT, cluster, smoke and nuclear projectiles. Deploying to fire the gun takes 3 minutes, and it can sustain a rate of fire of 5 to 6 rounds per minute. Most of the crew, with the exception of the gunner, deploys outside of the vehicle while firing. It is usually accompanied by an ammunition carrier with an additional 30 rounds of ammunition. The 2S5 was introduced into service in 1978, replacing the 130mm M46 field gun battalions in Soviet artillery brigades at the Army and Front level, and has also been known as the M1981 by the United States. Production ceased in 1991.

Operational history

The 2S5 was first used in combat by the Soviet Union in

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...

. Later, Russian forces used it in the First Chechen War and Second Chechen War. The 2S5 has been employed by the Ukrainian Army and Russian Army in the

war in Donbas War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regula ...

Operators

Current operators

;: 120 ;: 13 ;: 80 ; *

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

: 399 units (+500 in storage) *

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

: 170 units (+some in storage) ;: 25, as of September 17th 2022, at least two Giatsint were captured by Ukrainian forces during the

Russian Invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

Former operators

;: ; *

Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( Finnish: ''Maavoimat'', Swedish: ''Armén'') is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: the infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircra ...

: known as 152 TELAK 91. 18 units.

References

External links

2S5 Giatsint-S description at the website of its manufacturer
– scroll down the page {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Self-propelled artillery of the Soviet Union 152 mm artillery Military vehicles introduced in the 1970s