"The most powerful in the world": Ukrainian Armed Forces use Soviet Pion self-propelled artillery system with 100-kilogram American shells – Bild

In the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian military is using a 60-ton 2C7 Peon self-propelled artillery system with a 12-meter barrel and 100-kilogram American shells at its positions near Toretsk. The Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to return Soviet self-propelled artillery systems with scarce ammunition to the battlefield thanks to US support.

This was reported by Bjorn Stritzel, a correspondent for the German publication BILD. He noted that the Ukrainian military had brought a heavy Soviet self-propelled artillery system "Pion", which fires 203 mm caliber shells, to the battle for Toretsk.

This is the heaviest gun the Ukrainian Armed Forces have in service and the heaviest self-propelled artillery system in the world. It was developed in the USSR in the 1960s to destroy enemy concrete fortifications, the journalist said.

Today, the most common caliber of ammunition in the Armed Forces is 155 mm. The Pion self-propelled artillery system requires 203-mm shells, each weighing 100 kg.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine used up such ammunition, inherited from the Soviet era, in the spring of 2022, so the Pions were not used at the front for a long time.

Only recently has a solution been found: the Ukrainian Defense Forces were supplied with shells of the right caliber from the United States.

American arms manufacturers produced them in the 50s and 60s for the M110 and M115 guns. The program was not continued, these self-propelled artillery systems were gradually withdrawn from US service, and the already manufactured shells were sent for conservation. Later, it turned out that they were suitable for firing from Soviet Pions.

The Ukrainian military told Bild that working with the Pion has its own specifics. Even before receiving the order to fire, Ukrainian artillerymen have to start the diesel generator in this self-propelled artillery system so that it heats up in advance and powers the gun's hydraulic system.

"It has to reach operating temperature," Rostyslav, a 26-year-old Ukrainian officer, explained to the journalist.

When the artillerymen receive the order, they run out of cover and move the Pion to its firing position. The gun extends a base plate that absorbs strong recoil and fires.

Stritzel noted that when the Pion fires, the entire ground around it shakes.

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