The 2S25 Sprut-SD self-propelled anti-tank gun, and its successor, the 2S25M Sprut-SDM1,
are among the most intriguing weapon systems today. Due to their general design, they are
similar to a light tank. But, they have developed for a different job. So, the Russian define
them differently. As the Weapon Detective, we are investigating the 2S25 Sprut-SD and
2S25M Sprut-SDM1, the firepower of the Russian Airborne Forces.
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The 2S25 Sprut-SD self-propelled anti-tank gun, shortly SPATG, is a unique weapon system.
This air-droppable vehicle has high manoeuvrability and high firepower. However, this is not a
fully mature programme yet. Now, Russia is working on the successor of the 2S25, the
2S25M. To better understand the Sprut-SD, let's briefly look at the historical background.
The USSR became one of the first to see the value of the airborne assault concept. In
1930, the Soviet Armed Forces conducted a large scale experimental airborne operation.
The result was satisfactory. After that, the USSR quickly established a significant airborne
force. Also, to support its paratroopers with armoured
vehicles, in 1935, the Soviet Armed Forces strapped T-27 tankettes underneath heavy bombers
and landed them on airfields. After a while, the USSR began some trials to parachute tanks.
Despite all these efforts, during the Second World War, the Russians could not use their
paratroopers effectively as the German, American, and British.
Yet, USSR continued to work on some unusual but unsuccessful projects, such as Antonov
A-40 Krylya Tanka. This was a set of biplane wings and a twin-boomed tail that could be
fitted to turn a T-60 tank into a glider. In 1944, the USSR turned to more conventional
designs, such as the ASU-76. This vehicle could not reach the serial production level
but paved the way for the development of the ASU-57.
The ASU-57 was followed by the ASU-85. But, these two turretless vehicles had inadequate
firepower for the anti-tank role. In the early 1970s, the USSR introduced the
BMD and BTR-RD Robot. The BMD, later renamed as BMD-1, had a 73mm
recoilless gun and the 9M14 Malyutka missiles, whose NATO reporting name is AT-3 Sagger.
The BTR-RD was an anti-tank missile carrier, and it carried 9M111 Fagot or 9M113 Konkurs
missiles, whose NATO reporting names are AT-4 Spigot and AT-5 Spandrel, respectively.
But also, they did not have sufficient anti-tank capability as required.
However, in those years, the US airborne divisions had the M551 Sheridan, which had a turret.
Despite its troublesome M81 gun, at least on paper, this light tank offered more firepower
than its Soviet counterparts. A programme of the Soviet ground forces and
naval infantry gave a solution to airborne forces. Since the late 1960s, the USSR had
been working on the successor of the PT-76. These two branches of the Soviet Armed Forces
were demanding a new amphibious light tank with a weight no more than 15 tons, a 100mm
gun capable of firing both armour-piercing rounds and guided anti-tank missiles, and
an armour, which can withstand 23mm armour-piercing ammunition at the front. The other main requirement
was to have a speed of 70 kilometres per hour on land, 12 in water.
So, in the early 1980s, the Soviet engineers developed three different experimental vehicles,
which were the Object 685, Object 788, and Object 934. Because the new light tank was
also suitable for its requirement, the Soviet Airborne Forces was following these works
closely. But, in the same years, NATO had already begun
to operate the M1 Abrams, Leopard 2 and Challenger. So, the 100mm gun was now obsolete.
In 1983, the airborne forces demanded the development of an Object 934 based new vehicle
with a 125mm gun. Three previous Object 934 prototypes were equipped with the new gun
to prove the concept. In 1984, these vehicles successfully passed the tests. One year later,
the development of the 2S25 Sprut-SD, which is based on the BMD-3, began.
The hull of the vehicle was lengthened compared to BMD-3, and one road wheel on each side
was added. Due to the economic difficulties and uncertainty
after the dissolution of the USSR, as well as the problems with the parachute-jet landing
system, the programme experienced serious delays.
After successful trials in 2001, Russia ordered the 2S25 in 2006.
Initially, the Russian Airborne Forces had planned to get 57 2S25s. Also, the Russian
Naval Infantry had considered procuring 10 Sprut-SDs. But, Moscow cancelled the programme
after 24 vehicles were delivered. There are some reasons for this decision.
First of all, due to the delayed programme schedule, some subsystems of the 2S25 are
now out of date. For example, during this time, Russia has
improved more advanced gun, fire control systems, communication systems, and sights.
The Sprut-SD has the 2V-06-2S diesel engine, also fitted to the BMD-4.
But, in 2008, due to fuel leakage, the engine of a BMD-4 caught fire just after a military
parade in Moscow. Because of this reliability problem, Russia
has turned to the UTD-29 engine for the new variant called BMD-4M.
Likewise, the production of the 2S25 fitted with the 2V-06-2S diesel engine was terminated.
Russia is now working on the 2S25M Sprut-SDM1, which is based on the BMD-4M and fitted with
the UTD-29 engine. The prototype of the 2S25M was completed in
2015. One year later, the vehicle was unveiled. The new SPATG has a modern digital fire control
system with more advanced sights, including thermal imaging. Thanks to its new software
and hardware, the Sprut-SDM1 has network-centric warfare capability. Also, it has improved
ballistic protection. The serial production of the 2S25M has not begun yet.
The Russian Armed Forces defines the vehicle as an SPATG, not a light tank. So, as with
all Russian self-propelled guns, the system is named with 2S code, like 2S1 or 2S3.
So, operational use of the 2S25 is not similar to a light tank, whose main mission definition
is infantry fire support and reconnaissance. Even, the commander and gunner sit on both
sides of the driver when the vehicle is on the march.
They get into the turret during the 2S25 in firing position.
The Sprut-SD is a pure-blood tank hunter. The three-person crew of the 2S25 consists
of the commander, driver, and gunner. It is 9.77 metres long, 3.05 metres wide, and 2.72
metres high. The combat weight of the vehicle is 18 tons. The 510-horsepower 2V-06-2S diesel
engine provides a maximum road speed of 70 kilometres per hour. The range of the 2S25
is 500 kilometres. The vehicle can negotiate 0.8-metre vertical steps and 2.8-metre trenches.
The Sprut-SD is amphibious, and it can travel in the water at a speed of 10 kilometres per
hour. The armament consists of one 125mm 2A75 smoothbore gun, one 7.62mm co-axial PKT machine
gun. Different from the 2S25, the M version has
the 500-horsepower UTD-29 diesel engine. The main gun of the vehicle is the 125mm 2A46M-5.
Also, besides the co-axial machine gun, the Sprut-SDM1 has a remote-controlled weapon
station with a PKT machine gun. So, its height is 3.05 metres.
The main armament of the 2S25, the 125mm 2A75 smoothbore gun, is a modified version of the
2A46 used on the T-72B, T-80, and T-90. Initially, the designers had planned to fit
the gun with a muzzle brake. Later, they abandoned this plan. The 2S25 has a new recoil mechanism,
which increases the recoil travel to 700 to 740 millimetres to reduce the recoil effect.
Also, the hydropneumatic suspensions help to absorb the recoil effect.
The two-axis stabilized turret can turn 360 degrees.
The elevation of the gun is between -5 to +15 degrees.
The 2S25 can fire when it is afloat. But, in this situation, the gun can traverse to
just 35 degrees toward both sides. Both the commander and the gunner can independently
direct and fire the gun. The two-axis stabilized commander sight is coupled with a thermal
imager, as well as the laser designator for the guided anti-tank missile. The gunner sight
is coupled with the laser rangefinder. The Sprut-SD carries a total of 40 125mm-rounds,
including missiles. The autoloader holds 22 of them. In case of
failure, it is possible to manually load the gun.
In a standard mission, the 2S25 carries 20 high-explosive and 14 armour-piercing rounds,
as well as six 9K119M Refleks laser beam riding, guided anti-tank missiles. The bore-launched
9K119M Refleks, whose NATO reporting name is AT-11 Sniper, has a maximum effective range
of 5,000 metres. The tandem hollow-charge warhead of the missile can penetrate 900 millimetre-thick
steel armour reinforced with explosive reactive armour.
It is also effective against low-flying / low-altitude air targets.
The 3VBM13 armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot munition can penetrate 500
millimetre-thick steel armour. The road speed of the 2S25 is 70 kilometres
per hour on the road, while its off-road speed is about 40 to 45 kilometres per hour.
Thanks to its hydropneumatic suspension, which provides excellent cross-country performance,
the driver can change the vehicle's ground clearance between 190 to 590 millimetres.
Also, it is helpful to dampen the impact of hitting the ground during the para dropping
and the recoil effect during the fire. To improve the cross-country performance, the
2S25 also has a hydraulic track tensioning mechanism.
The vehicle can enter the water without any preparation, and it can swing at up to sea
state 3. The 2S25's hull and turret armour is made
of ballistic aluminium. The front sections are reinforced with steel plates. It provides
protection against 12.7mm rounds on the front, as well as all-around protection against 7.62mm
rounds and artillery shell splinters. Some sources claim that the front of the armour
can resist 23mm rounds. The vehicle has CBRN protection.
The Sprut-SD can be airdropped from an altitude of 400 to 1500 meters accompanied by the P260M
device. During this process, the aircraft's speed
should be between 300 to 380 kilometres per hour.
The crew of the vehicle is inside while it drops.
This feature allows nearly immediate combat readiness for the 2S25 upon landing to provide
high firepower alongside paratroopers. The vehicle can be airdropped from the Il-76
and An-124 transport aircraft. Also, the 2S25 can be transported on the underslung
of the Mi-26 transport helicopter. Yes, there are many other airborne assault
vehicles in the world. But, with these features, the 2S25 gives the
Russian Armed Forces a matchless combination of high firepower, manoeuvrability and tactical
deployment advantage. It is the only airborne assault vehicle, which has a gun that can
deal with modern main battle tanks. It is one of the two air-droppable light tanks.
The other is the ZTQ-15. But, the Chinese allegedly light tank is over 30 tons. Due
to its high weight, it is very doubtful that the ZTQ-15 is a real air-droppable vehicle.
This vehicle can be airdropped only with a low-altitude parachute-extraction system,
at best. As a tracked airborne anti-tank vehicle, the
German Wiesel is weakly armoured. It can carry only a single tube TOW missile launcher. Also,
it is not a secret that this vehicle is not air-droppable.
Even the Pentagon has acknowledged that the M1128 MGS cannot meet the desired firepower
and strategic mobility requirements. So, the USA is now working on the M8 MPF and
Griffin II to replace them. But, even they will be over 30 tons. So, the winner of the
US Army's Mobile Protected Firepower Programme will not combine the high firepower, manoeuvrability
and tactical deployment advantage as the 2S25. So, for the foreseeable future, the Sprut-SD
and its successor, the Sprut-SDM1, will stay unique. These systems and the concept have
not been tested in real combat yet. We know that the 2S25 has an engine problem. The Russian
claim that the 2S25M will overcome this problem, and it will be more capable than its predecessor.
On the paper, they look good. Yet, we have to wait to see the truth.
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