Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.
Concept
2S4 Tyulpan
Summary
The 2S4 Tyulpan (often spelled Tulpan, 2С4 «Тюльпан») is a Soviet 240 mm self-propelled heavy mortar. "2S4" is its GRAU designation. The Tyulpan is the largest mortar system in use today.
Following World War II, the Soviet Union developed two types of heavy infantry mortar in 160 and 240 mm calibres, both conventional albeit breech-loaded designs. Due to their relatively large dimensions, total mass and the heavy weight of their projectiles (and the M-240 in particular), these mortars could hardly hope to function in the field as infantry weapons, losing the features making such weapons desirable, that is their relatively simple operation, speed of deployment and mobility.
To alleviate the obvious mobility concerns, the military leadership proposed to mount the heavy mortar on a self-propelled, tracked chassis with the guns installed externally on the chassis, rather than in an enclosed superstructure or turret. For firing, the gun was to be pivoted at the vehicle's rear and anchored in the ground with the use of a massive recoil-absorbing base plate. Such a solution would help to simplify the overall design and construction of the vehicle and allow for a smaller, lighter prime mover. Initially, designers planned to utilize a common chassis used in the 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, but quickly found it was not robust enough to handle the significant recoil (approximately 400 tonne-force).
A formal agreement to initiate work on the new project was signed on July 4, 1967, but preliminary design had been ongoing at the OKB-3 experimental design bureau since 1966 under G. Yefremov. The new vehicle was developed by a team of engineers from the SKB (design bureau) of the Perm Machine Building Plant named after V. I. Lenin, using the M-240 towed mortar as the basis. This weapon has a long history, dating back to 1944 when it was first built, but formally adopted into service only in 1950 after addressing numerous deficiencies in the design. The M-240 was produced since 1958 and built in relatively minor numbers; only approximately three-hundred guns were built.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.