2s7 Pion Malka - Russian Self Propelled 203mm Heavy Artillery

The 2S7 Pion (“peony“) or Malka is a Soviet self-propelled 203mm heavy artillery. “2S7“ is its GRAU designation. It was identified for the first time in 1975 in the Soviet Army and so was called M-1975 by NATO (the 2S4 Tyulpan also received the M-1975 designation), whereas its official designation is SO-203 (2S7). It uses originally designed chassis (partly based on T-72 and T-80 design) carrying an externally mounted 2A44 203 mm gun on the hull rear. It takes the crew of seven men 5–6 minutes to setup and 3–5 minutes to dismantle. It carries four 203 mm projectiles for immediate use. It is capable of firing nuclear ammunition. The gun has a range of 37,500 metres (23.3 mi), but this can be extended to 55,500 metres (34.5 mi) by using RAPs (Rocket Assisted Projectiles). One interesting feature of the Pion is the firing alarm. Because the blast of the weapon firing is so powerful—it can physically incapacitate an unprepared soldier or crew member near it from concussive force—