Russia deploys state-of-the-art howitzers to Finland’s border months after joining military alliance, infuriating the Kremlin

• Tests of the new Coalition-SV self-propelled artillery unit have been completed, Rostec chief said

Russia will soon deploy its latest howitzers to the Northern Military District, which borders Finland, months after the European country joined NATO, a move that has infuriated the Kremlin.

Tests of the new Union SV self-propelled artillery unit have been completed and mass production has already begun, Rostec chief Sergei Chemezov said in an interview with state-run RIA news agency.

The first pilot batch is expected to be delivered by the end of 2023.

“I think that this class of howitzers will soon appear there (in the Northern Military District), since they are needed to have an advantage over Western artillery models in terms of range,” Chemezov said. .

In 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin changed the status of Russia’s Northern Fleet, which is primarily responsible for the Russian Arctic, to the Northern Military District, and also incorporated the Murmansk region, which borders Finland and Norway, into that region.

Since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian government has accused “Western groups” of waging a proxy war with Russia, and has threatened Finland’s membership in the U.S.-led NATO alliance. In response, the country has threatened to increase its military presence on the western border. .

In early December, Russia’s TASS state news agency reported that one Allied-SV howitzer had already been deployed to the front lines in Ukraine.

The howitzer, which has a maximum firing range of 70 kilometers (44 miles), is equipped with a modern 2A88 cannon of caliber 152 mm with a rate of fire of more than 10 rounds per minute and modern systems to automate the firing process. According to TASS, how to point a gun, select a target, navigate, etc.