Nuclear artillery - 2S4 Tulip Self Propelled Mortar
The 2S4 Tyulpan (Russian: 2С4 «Тюльпан»; English: tulip tree) is a Soviet self-propelled
mortar. "2S4" is its GRAU designation.
It was identified for the first time in 1975 in the Soviet army and so was called M-1975 by
NATO (the 2S7 Pion also received the M-1975 designation), whereas its official designation is
SM-240(2S4). Its design is based on the GMZ tracked minelaying vehicle carrying an externally
mounted M-240 240 mm breech-loading mortar on the hull rear.
The crew consists of four men, but an extra five are required to operate the mortar. This has a
range of 9,650 m but an extended range munition exists with a possible range of 20,000 m. Due
to the large size of the weapon and the weight of the ammunition (130 kg for a standard
projectile) it has a slow rate of fire: one round per minute. In addition to the high explosive
bombs, it can fire armour-piercing, chemical and nuclear rounds. It can also fire the
"Smel'chak" (daredevil), a laser-guided round.
Tyulpan is currently the heaviest mortar in deployment among any country.