122-mm D-30 howitzer

D-30 (GRAU index 2A18) is a towed howitzer with a caliber of 122 mm, created in the Soviet Union in the late 1950s. It was adopted by the USSR in the early 1960s and is currently in service with 35 countries, not including former Soviet Union countries, with around 3600 guns in operation. It is one of the most widely used artillery systems of the post-war period and is commonly known as the “Frog”.

The howitzer was developed in the late 1950s in the OKB-9 under the direction of F.F. Petrov. It is believed that the developments of the Germans during World War II were used in its creation. It was put into service and serial production began in the early 1960s at Artillery Plant No. 9 (Yekaterinburg, now JSC “Plant No. 9”).

The D-30 howitzer is designed to perform the following main tasks:

• destruction and suppression of enemy personnel, both in the open and in field-type shelters (trenches, dugouts, earth bunkers)
• destruction and suppression of enemy infantry’s firepower
• destruction of wood-earth firing points (WFPs) and other field-type structures
• creation of passages through minefields and wire barriers
• combat against enemy artillery, motorized vehicles, and tanks.

The howitzer uses separate-loading ammunition. The design of the carriage allows for circular firing at elevation angles from -5° to +18°, and when the carriage is located in the sectors between adjacent legs, firing is possible at elevation angles from -7° to +70°.

The towing vehicle for the howitzer is the Ural-4320 truck, with a maximum permissible speed on roads with asphalt or concrete pavement of up to 80 km/h. The howitzer can also be equipped with a ski kit for transportation over deep snow cover, but firing from the ski kit is not possible.

In the Soviet Union, the following modifications of the D-30 howitzer were created:

• D-30 – the basic model of the howitzer.
• D-30A/2A18M – a modernized version, the latest serial model, produced since at least 1978. As of 2006-2013, it was in production.
• D-30A-1/2A18M-1 is a variant of the D-30A howitzer with a semi-automatic projectile launcher. As of 2006-2013, it could be produced to order.
• The 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system is a self-propelled artillery system based on the MT-LB chassis. It has a 2A31 gun based on the D-30 howitzer.