Nora B-52

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Nora B-52
Nora B-52

Nora B-52
General properties
crew 3 (commander, driver, gunner) to 5 (commander, driver, gunner, two loaders)
length 10.28 m
width 3.08 m
height 3.39 m
Dimensions 30.62 t
Armor and armament
Main armament 155mm howitzer
agility
drive
500 hp
Top speed 80 km / h
Power / weight
Range 512 km
The further developed variant Aleksandar was presented for the first time in 2017. Eurosatory, Paris 2018

The Nora B-52 is a wheel howitzer from Serbia . This is a 155 mm howitzer , which was initially mounted on the 8 × 8 truck FAP-2632 made by the Serbian manufacturer FAP . For the export versions, Russian KamAZ-6350 were chosen as carriage vehicles. For clients in the Arab world, the MGS-25 Aleksandar version on MAN 8 × 8 chassis with higher series firing power and greater automation was presented in 2019 . The weapon system is currently in use in five countries; a total of around 120 units were produced by 2020.

development

Under test conditions in the United Arab Emirates

The Nora B-52 is based on the towed howitzer M84 NORA developed in Yugoslavia in the 1980s , which in turn is based on the Soviet M1955 . Unlike the M84 Nora with a caliber of 152 mm, the newer version Nora B-52 has a caliber of 155 mm according to the NATO standard. The automatic loading system carries 24 projectiles, another 24 projectiles can be accommodated in the magazine. The maximum range for ammunition of the type ERFB-BB is 44+ km, the maximum range for the standard ammunition 155 mm M107 is 20 km.

The Canadian engineer Gerald Bull was involved in the development of the weapon system. Manager was Anastas Paligorić (1938-2017). The development of the Nora B-52 began from the conversion of the Soviet 130mm M46 howitzer. They were converted to the 152 mm M46. The cannon with a 23-liter cargo space has a range of 39 km, which is 45% above the 130-mm M46.

In 1987, the development of the Nora B52-C2 152-mm-M46 began as a towed gun carriage howitzer. It served as a study for a proposed 203 mm weapon system ("Kolos"). In 1989 development work was stopped due to lack of funds.

Paligorić chose the cannon mounted on an 8 × 8 truck chassis from three variants. He should be considered a pioneer for this idea. A ready-to-use model was tested in 1990. A year later, in 1991, an improved version was created, but the project, like the Nora B52-C2, was interrupted due to lack of money. Paligorić was employed at the "Military Technical Institute in Belgrade" (Tehnicki opitni centar - TOC) until 1990 and from 1990 to 1994 as director of the later Yugoimport SDPR . Only when self-propelled guns on wheel chassis came to the fore in 2003 did Yugoimport SDRP resume development of the Nora B52. Paligorić himself, who was again appointed head of the project, replaced the old M46 caliber with an M52 caliber and the Soviet 155 mm with the NATO 155 mm caliber.

With Gerald Bull, the production of two types of ammunition, 152 mm and 155 mm, was also set up in Pretis-Vogosča . Within a five-year development period, a weapon system was created that could reach firing ranges of 41 km. The Nora-B-52 system has an automatic loading system for 12 projectiles and 12 propellant charges, 24 additional projectiles can be stowed in an ammunition depot behind the armored cab . The rate of fire is four projectiles per minute, with the further developed version MGS-25 Aleksandar six rounds per minute should be possible.

variants

Sometimes the gun is also loaded onto unarmored trucks, for example the heavy all-terrain KamAZ-63501 from Russian production.

A further developed version that can fire six projectiles per minute instead of four was first presented in 2017 as MGS-25 Aleksandar at Partner 2017. The same development was presented at the Eurosatory in Paris in 2018.

Users

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Partner 2019: Aleksandar 155mm self-propelled howitzer based on 8x8 MAN truck chassis
  2. ↑ (PDF)
  3. ↑ (PDF)
  4. ↑ To accommodate the gun on KAMAZ chassis (English)
  5. ↑ Eurosatory 2018 Eurosatory 2018: Serbia starts firing trials of Aleksandar
  6. ↑ http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Drustvo/Srpski-roboti-idu-u-rat.lt.html
  7. ↑ Serbian made Nora-B52 self-propelled howitzers and Milos armored vehicles parade in Cyprus