Sprut anti-tank gun

2A45 Sprut-A, 2A45M Sprut-B and 2S25 Sprut-SD (Cyrillic for Squid) are the designations of the Soviet smoothbore 125 mm anti-tank gun.

Development

The 2A45M was created in the late 1980s at the Petrov Design Bureau at Artillery Plant Number 9 also responsible for the 122 mm howitzer 2A18 .

Description (Sprut-B)

The most distinctive feature of the Sprut-B is its Auxiliary Power Unit, which can propel the gun on relatively flat surfaces (up to 15 degrees slope) and at 14 km/h on roads. This gives the gun a measure of mobility on the battle field—although it takes 2 minutes to go from firing position to travelling position and 1.5 minutes to go from travelling position to firing position.

The gun features a crew of seven. During the day the OP4M-48A direct fire sight is used, at night the 1PN53-1 night vision sight is used. For indirect fire the 2Ts33 iron sights are used, along with the PG-1m panoramic sight. The gun can reliably engage targets 2 metres high at a distance of 2000 metres.

The barrel features a thermal sleeve to prevent temperature changes affecting the accuracy. The gun uses the same split ammunition as the T-64, T-72, T-80 and T-90 tanks.

With an additional piece of equipment of the 9S53, laser guided projectiles like the 9M119 Svir or 9K120 Refleks can be fired.

General characteristics (Sprut-B)

• Calibre: 125 mm, 51 calibre
• Muzzle brake: double `T' type
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