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Images have appeared online showing that the Russian invaders in Ukraine have begun using the relatively rare Soviet 130-millimeter artillery piece M-46 in battles against the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is quite an interesting development, because Russia has settled into the 152.4 mm standard a long time ago.
The M-46 is an old artillery piece, but many countries are still using these weapons. Image credit: UMP via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The M-46 artillery gun was developed in 1946-1950. It started service with the Soviet forces around 1951 and was produced until 1971. At its time, the M-46 was one of the longest-range artillery weapons in the world, with even a standard round flying for about 27 km. Even today most howitzers cannot match that range. For comparison, the British M777 155mm howitzer used by the US, Ukraine, Australia and several other countries has a range of 23.5 km with standard ammunition.
But now the M-46 is an old weapon. The caliber of the M-46 is 130 millimeters, which is not the standard of the Russian ground forces. Russia now officially relies on its 152.4 mm guns, for which ammunition is continuously produced at a mass scale.
On the other hand, although the M-46 is an old artillery gun, it is still used in many areas in the world. Even Finland wrote off the last of its own M-46s only in 2019. And it seems that they were handed over to Ukraine, which also received M-46 guns from Croatia. But Russia, which has one of the largest armed forces in the world, prefers to rely on standards that underscore the 152.4mm artillery, so the M-46 has long been relegated to long-term storage sites.
Defense Express reports that Russia had only about 350 M-46 guns before the war in Ukraine. How many of them were taken out of the long-term storage and prepared for service in Ukraine is unknown. But the fact is that the M-46 is now being used in Ukraine (by both sides, of course), despite Russia repeatedly stating that it has no shortage of weapons or ammo.
Analysts believe that Russia may have found shells for these guns in their stockpiles. Or maybe they were provided by North Korea, which has several different types of 130 mm guns.
Analysts at Defense Express believe that Russia decided to pull out their M-46s into the light of day for two reasons – the high losses that they’ve incurred in the war in Ukraine and the range of these weapons. In the ideal case, Russia would like to keep its artillery pieces away from the contact line to avoid Ukrainian kamikaze drones. In addition, Ukraine is so effective at destroying Russian artillery that it may start to run out of guns.
Russia brings many old and unusual weapons to this war in Ukraine. Maybe it is just because they have them. Why write it off and scrap it if it can still be used in Ukraine – that is the simple logic of Russian practicality.
