The Defense Forces of Ukraine, in conditions of a shortage of weapons, sometimes use quite rare, and sometimes even – as in this particular case – literally museum samples of weapons. One of these, namely the 120 mm 2B-16 Nona-K gun-howitzer-mortar towed system, is told about in the 80th Air Assault Brigade "Halychyna" of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
As the battery commander named Serhiy says, this gun was preserved and put into storage back in 2003. Then this gun literally became a museum exhibit – at the end of 2022 it was removed from the stele of the National Academy of Land Forces in Lviv. At the beginning of 2023 the gun was transferred to one of the units of the 80th Air Assault Brigade, where for three years now Ukrainian paratroopers have been destroying russian invaders with its help.
Read more: Ukrainian Artillerymen Eliminates russia’s Ammunition Depot, 2 Nona-K Artillery Systems (Video)
Despite the fact that this old Soviet gun-howitzer-mortar towed system was in the open air for a long time, it turned out to be quite effective in destroying the enemy – both infantry and shelters, as well as important targets on the battlefield: positions of mortar crews, crews of easel anti-tank grenade launchers and easel automatic grenade launchers.
First, this gun ended up in the Bakhmut direction, where it was used to defend the city. The brigade also says that their Nona-K gun covered Ukrainian troops on the state border of Ukraine with russia during the Kursk operation. It is noted that, despite the main drawback of this gun - a short firing range, it was used to hit many targets.
The effective firing range of the 2B16 Nona-K gun-howitzer-mortar system, depending on the type of shells used, can reach 7-8.8 km, the maximum firing range is up to 12.8 km, which is really a problem in the conditions of the threat of drones and the expansion of the "kill zone". As the brigade hints, the gun is not currently used in combat – they are waiting for the spring-summer period, when it will be possible to hide it well under the cover of the foliage of trees and bushes.
However, the Nona-K gun remains an effective weapon, provided that it is well camouflaged and the crew is trained. This gun also has a significant advantage in qualitatively destroying russian invaders – a high level of accuracy, which is emphasized by the Ukrainian military, who operate the Nona-K system.
First of all, they are talking about a case when Ukrainian artillerymen received low-quality ammunition for this gun and a little less than a third of the shells did not explode. With one of these low-quality ammunition, the Ukrainians destroyed one of the russian occupiers in specisl way. "The "Nona" turned out to be so accurate that with the shell itself, just a "blank", without bursting, it tore the russian invader in half. Just a direct hit," says one of the paratroopers.
Let us recall that for the first time it became known that the Ukrainian Defense Forces were using the Nona-K guns on the battlefield back in 2022.
According to the Oryx portal, since 2022, the Ukrainian military has captured eight russia’s Nona-K gun-howitzer-mortar towed systems.
As Defense Express reported, earlier Ukrainian soldiers showed the rare 2B16 Nona-K hybrid artillery gun in action
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Read more: russian Forces Use “Antique” D-1 Howitzer in a Service Since 1943 (Video)
