Trumpeter Military Models 1/35 Soviet 2S3 152mm Self-Propelled Howitzer Early Version Kit

Designated M1973 by the US Army, the Akatsiya is armed with a 152.4 mm howitzer based on the Soviet 152.4 mm D-20 howitzer and is sometimes confused with the M109 self-propelled artillery. The artillery system was developed at the design bureau No. 9 of Kalinin Machine-Building Plant in Sverdlovsk. The factory designation of the howitzer is D-22 and the GRAU designation, 2A33. The chassis was developed by Uraltransmash.

Driver's and engine-transmission compartments are located in a front part of a hull, fighting compartment with rotatory turret - in middle and rear parts of the hull. The armor is welded rolled steel. Howitzer is equipped with R-123 radio set, R-124 intercom, automatic NBC system with filtration unit and fire-fighting equipment. The V-59 12-cylinder four stroke water-cooled diesel engine connects with a mechanical twin gear transmission, a gear box is in one block with a planetary steering gear. SO-152 has self-entrenching equipment which allows to prepare a trench within 20-40 min.

The crew consists of 4-6 men: a driver, a gunner, a loader, a commander, and two ammunition bearers, which are positioned to the rear of the vehicle feeding rounds through two hatches in the hull rear when in masked firing position.

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