The Polish portal Defence24 decided to pay attention to the news about the plans of the russians to recall the 2C18 Pat-S self-propelled artillery project on the BMP-3 IFV chassis, which was created back in the 1980s, and to modernize this artillery installation. The authors of the publication emphasize that the intention of the russians to update the 40-year-old project looks at least interesting. But at the same time, it is not clear how exactly the occupiers plan to use their Pat-S self-propelled gun, the firing range of which is less than 20 km (roughly 17-18 km), which is comparable to the Soviet 2S1 Gvozdika 122-mm self-propelled howitzer.
Such a small firing range can hardly be compensated by the fact that the developers of the Pat-S system declare the possibility of firing from this self-propelled gun the entire possible nomenclature of 152-mm shells, including shots of the D-20 towed howitzer.
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This specific circumstance may show, in particular, that most likely if the russian army really plans to put the 2C18 Pat-S self-propelled artillery into service, then the users of this artillery installation will not be mechanized or motorized rifle units.
The authors of Defence24 believe that such self-propelled howitzers can be put into service with the airborne assault units of the russian army, which theoretically need fire support with their own 152-mm artillery systems. But so far, the most powerful artillery installation in the arsenal of paratroopers of the russian army is only the 120-mm Nona-S self-propelled mortar. In turn, the BMD-4M armored vehicle that is armed with a 100-mm gun also does not provide the necessary firepower, which is necessary for work on fortified targets.
Next, a completely natural question arises, whether it is worth reviving the 40-year-old project of an artillery installation even with such motivation. But it seems that the command of the russian army can be guided by a different logic here - there is a ready-made project with a certain level of firepower, which means that it should be "brought back to life".
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