Here’s a question for the Soviet Cold War artillery experts out there. I’m building ICM’s excellent KamAZ 4310 kit as used by the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany in the 1980s but it needs to be "put to work,“ so to say. I was thinking of using it in a scene with Trumpeter’s 122mm D-30 howitzer:



My question is this: Even though by that point, tracked vehicles like the MT-LB were more often employed by Soviet forces for towing artillery instead of trucks, would the KamAZ/D-30 combination still have been seen in that time and place?

Thanks a lot for any responses.

Jerry

The USSR still used trucks to tow arty pieces at that time in light and Airborne units, like below.





And still today in the Ukraine.

Now where did he get those photos?

Wow, Gino, many thanks for the reply + pics - those'll come in very handy!

Jerry

Tracked artillery pullers are ONLY used where roads and soil conditions would impair wheeled vehicles. Trucks are a LOT cheaper to operate than tracked vehicles, but tend to get stuck easier in unimproved areas.

The US Army still uses lots of wheeled vehicles to move arty.

Jacques, thanks a lot for the info. It just goes to show (again) that you have to be careful with some casual internet sources, which seem to suggest that with the advent of the MT-LB and 2S1 Gvozdika these guns weren't towed by trucks much anymore.

Jerry

Youtube will give you some interesting results also, like this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmv_yX90Nnk

Dragos, thank you for that link - lots of KamAZ/D-30 sightings, and some fascinating sequences of Russian personnel setting up and firing their howitzers - this will be invaluable for my build!

Jerry