Russia To Deploy Newest Howitzers Against Ukrainian Forces

Coalition-SV self-propelled howitzers drive during a rehearsal for a Victory Day parade on Red Square in central Moscow on May 7, 2021.

Russia will soon deploy its newest howitzers on the battlefield against Ukrainian forces, the head of the Rostec state defense conglomerate said in remarks published on December 27.* The testing of the new Coalition-SV self-propelled artillery units has been completed and their mass production has already started, Sergei Chemezov, the head of Rostec, told the state RIA Novosti news agency. The first pilot batch will be delivered by the end of 2023, he said. Russia's TASS state news agency reported earlier this month that single Coalition-SV howitzers had already been deployed to the front line in Ukraine. *CORRECTION: A previous version of this story said that the weapons were intended for deployment on the Finnish border, not Ukraine.