2S1 Gvozdika

The amphibious 122 mm howitzer that both armies still fire daily and that both are losing faster than they can replace. Oryx has documented about 400 Ukrainian losses of the type, and Russia is reported to be stripping barrels off its own for use elsewhere.

Overview

The 2S1 Gvozdika ("Carnation"), designated M1974 by NATO, is a Soviet 122 mm self-propelled howitzer built on a lengthened MT-LB armoured chassis. It entered service in 1971 as divisional artillery, was produced in enormous numbers, and remains in use by both Russia and Ukraine — which is precisely why it matters here. It is not an exotic system; it is one of the guns that has actually been firing across the contact line for four years.

Its defining characteristics are ordinary: 122 mm calibre, about 15.2 km range, 4–5 rounds per minute, roughly 15,700 kg, forty rounds carried, and an amphibious hull. Nothing about it is competitive with a modern PzH 2000 or Caesar. What it offers is that it exists in quantity, both sides know how to maintain it, and 122 mm ammunition is the calibre Russia produces at scale.

By 2026 the story is attrition. Russian losses of the type exceeded 174 destroyed or captured by January 2026 by one tally, and Oryx's visually confirmed count of Ukrainian losses has reached about 400.

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