The invaders showed their new “Frankenstein” based on APCS-D, equipped with two mortars at once
The enemy continues its experiments with installing various weapons on armored vehicles. For example, a video recently appeared online showing the occupiers installing two Vasilek mortars on an APC-D.
Significant losses of weapons and military equipment on the battlefield force the Russian occupation forces to throw various improvised “shushpantsers” into battle – since February 2022, the enemy has demonstrated a number of different “Frankensteins” that it uses on the battlefield.
Among them are both really dangerous options, such as the ersatz-Solntsepek with the A-22 MLRS from Zubr, and rather strange and incomprehensible solutions, such as the MT-LB with the 2M-3 shipboard anti-aircraft gun, which are manufactured almost in series and are skeptically assessed even in Russia.
More imagery of those MT-LB-2M-3 monstrosities. #Ukraine #UkraineRussiaWar pic.twitter.com/ut2rtOwJxX
– Historic Firearms | Matthew Moss (@historicfirearm) March 5, 2023
At the same time, one of the videos recently showed a new “shushpantser” of the Russian airborne troops based on APC-D, which is equipped with two 82-mm mortars 2B9M “Vasilek”.
😲😀 Another creativity from the Russian Airborne Forces, two 2B9M automatic gun-mortars added on the BTR-D. pic.twitter.com/FFNx8IuMGd
– PStyleOne1 (@PStyle0ne1) October 22, 2023
Such a variation has not been seen on the battlefield before, but this is not the first time the occupiers have tested such “dual” weapons options – earlier, on a more “classic” platform for their “shushpantsers,” the enemy demonstrated a variant where a UB-32 unit for firing NARs was also placed on a self-propelled mortar.
As a reminder, the BTR-D is a Soviet airborne armored personnel carrier based on the BMD-1. According to Military Balance, Russia has 600 APCS-D, 100 APCS-RD and 150 APCS-3D in its inventory, while Oryx researchers note that since February 2022, Russia has lost 81 APCS-D units.
The 2B9M Vasilek mortar has a weight of 632 kg in the combat position, a maximum technical rate of fire of 170 rounds per minute, and a maximum practical rate of fire of 100-120 rounds per minute; it can destroy targets at a minimum range of 800 meters and a maximum range of up to 4,270 meters.
