Vehicle I-D: 2S3 Akatsiya (2C3 Акация), Cold War to Ukraine Border Crisis!

Sometime during the non-declared Cold War.

This photo was released in the United States in late 1986-early 1987 (date when photo was made is not known). The U.S./NATO called it the M-1973 SMP 1987 152mm Howitzer, of course it is the 2S3.

From a U.S. Army vehicle I-D poster.

To make things more confusing, U.S./NATO also called the 2S3 the SAU-152.

This photo was released in the United States in late 1986-early 1987 (date when photo was made is not known). In this photo release the U.S./NATO correctly called it the 2S3 152mm self-propelled howitzer.

From U.S. Army Graphic Training Aid, Armored Vehicle Recognition, 1987.

Soviet promotional video for the 2S3:

M-1973 (another name the U.S. military sometimes called the 2S3 during the Cold War), on display on Fort Irwin, National Training Center, California. U.S. Army photo taken in late 1990.

A lone abandoned Iraqi 2S3 sits next to a line of AMX-30 AuF-1 self-propelled guns, in the Taji tank graveyard of Iraq, photo dated October 2005.

2S3 artillery unit, based in Primorsky Krai, fire-off some rounds. Russian Eastern Military District photo, June 2015.

Video of Russian 2S3s conducting live-fire training in Tajikistan, September 2015:

Column of Ukrainian 2S3s heading into disputed Donbas area, sometime in 2018.

Russian 2S3 on one of the many training grounds spread from the Ural Mountains to Siberia. Russian Central Military District photo, September 2020.

Since 19JAN2022, Russian ground forces (Eastern Military District units and Pacific Fleet marine units) began arriving in the Republic of Belarus, which is just north of Ukraine. The official reason is to ‘inspect’ Belarusian forces for readiness, which is expected to take until the end of February. It is in compliance with the Vienna Document of 2011. This is Russian Defense Ministry video, recorded on 25JAN2022, showing the arrival of the 2S3: