2S5 Giatsint-S

The 2S5 Giatsint-S is a Soviet 152 mm self-propelled gun, "2S5" being its GRAU index. Production began in 1976 alongside the towed 2A36 Giatsint-B, which uses the same ordnance, and the system entered service in 1978. It replaced 130 mm M46 field gun battalions in Soviet artillery brigades at Army and Front level. United States intelligence designated the vehicle M1981. Production ended in 1991.

The chassis is derived from that of the 2K11 Krug (SA-4) surface-to-air missile system and is powered by a V-59 diesel engine. The gun is mounted externally at the rear of the hull on an open pedestal rather than in a turret; consequently the crew, apart from the gunner, dismounts and works outside the vehicle when firing. The hull provides nuclear, biological and chemical protection for the crew during transit. Onboard stowage holds 30 rounds of separate-loading ammunition, and a battery is normally accompanied by an ammunition carrier holding a further 30 rounds per gun. The vehicle can be brought into action in three minutes and sustains a rate of fire of five to six rounds per minute.

Maximum range with conventional projectiles is 28 km, extending to 33–40 km with rocket-assisted projectiles. The ammunition family includes high explosive, HEAT, cluster, smoke and nuclear projectiles. Compared with the more numerous 2S3 Akatsiya, the 2S5 offers greater range and a higher rate of fire, and the chassis retains cross-country mobility comparable to tracked divisional artillery.

A wheeled derivative, the 2S44 Giatsint-K, mounts the same weapon on the wheeled undercarriage used by the 2S43 Malva. Deliveries were reported to have begun in December 2024.

The 2S5 first saw combat with Soviet forces in the Soviet–Afghan War. Russian forces subsequently employed it in the First and Second Chechen Wars. Both the Russian and Ukrainian armies used the type during the war in Donbas.

Current operators include Russia, which retains a portion of its inventory in active units with a much larger number held in storage, as well as Belarus, Ukraine, Eritrea and, reportedly, Uzbekistan. The Soviet Union fielded the type in large numbers, with over two thousand in service by 1989. Former operators include Ethiopia, which received ex-Russian vehicles, and Finland, where the type served under the designation 152 TELAK 91.