Ukrainian FPV drone totally wrecks Russia’s fancy Malva self-propelled gun (watch the vid)
So, like, on May 10, Militarnyi spilled the tea that Ukraine’s 413th separate UAV battalion “Raid” straight up destroyed Russia’s super cool 2S43 Malva self-propelled howitzer using an FPV drone. This Malva thing has been flexing in the Russian army since 2023.
In late March, the Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov was chatting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, claiming that Russian forces totally “liberated” Kursk Oblast from Ukrainian troops. But, like, Ukraine is still hanging onto bits of Kursk Oblast, sneaking into nearby Belgorod Oblast, and even hitting up Tetkino in the southwest of Kursk Oblast. They’re pulling off these attacks from across the border and behind enemy lines, going after Russia’s prized military gear.
The combat clip that dropped on May 9 shows the Malva chilling in some trees, but the tracks left by the vehicle gave away its hiding spot. So, Ukraine was like, “Nah, we ain’t having this,” and sent in some FPV drones to take out the Russian artillery.
One of the drones clocked the Malva, rolled up from behind, and nailed the spot where the ammo was stashed. The hit set off the onboard explosives, blowing up the whole system.
No one spilled the beans on where this went down, but word on the street is that it happened in Russia’s Belgorod or around Kursk Oblast.
The Malva artillery system is no joke. It’s a wheeled self-propelled artillery system cooked up by Russia. Instead of the usual 152-mm 2A64 howitzer, the Malva rocks the long-range 2A36 Giatsint-B gun to make up for its range issues.
The Malva can blast high-explosive shells up to 30.5 km out, and even further, up to 33.1 km, with rocket-assisted projectiles. It’s riding on a BAZ-6910-011 (BAZ-6910) wheeled chassis made by the Bryansk Automobile Plant — a spot that Ukrainian drones have had their eye on before.
Russia’s been cranking out the Malva artillery systems like it’s nobody’s business over the last year as they beef up their defense game.
In other news, five Russian howitzers and a Grad MLRS got taken out by the Ukrainian National Guard using FPV drones (peep the vid), Ukraine is gearing up for a post-US aid life with drone warfare and homemade weapons, a Russian combat-ready farm tractor got smacked by a Ukrainian FPV drone near Chasiv Yar (watch it go down), and the ISW is calling out Western intel for saying Putin’s planning to dial back the Ukraine war.
That’s the lowdown on the:
• 2S43 Malva
• 413th drone battalion
• artillery
• belrogod oblast
• drone warfare
• FPV drones
• Kursk Oblast
• long-range artillery
• Russian artillery
• Russian artillery loss
• Russian losses
• wheeled howitzers
Alrighty, that’s a wrap on this wild ride. Peace out!
