Tag Archives: m551

Vehicle I-D: 2S1, from Cold War to Ukrainian Border Crisis!

From a Cold War U.S. Army vehicle I-D poster. The U.S./NATO liked to call the 2S1 the M-1974.

To make things more confusing, U.S./NATO also called the 2S1 the SAU-122.

It has a 122mm gun.

Photo from a 1978 Soviet wargame.

Photo dated May 1985. No other information given. East Germany (DDR)?

U.S. Army vehicle I-D video from the last decade of the Cold War:

A 2S1 122mm self-propelled howitzer. Photo was officially released in the United States in late 1986 or early 1987, actual date and location photo was made is not known.

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

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

This is a U.S. Army M551 Sheridan ‘fake news’ 2S1, on Fort Irwin, California, January 1991.

What is left of an Iraqi M-1974 (2S1), February 1991.

By 1991, the U.S. military was still calling the 2S1 the ‘M-1974’. This is an abandoned Iraqi 2S1. U.S. Department of Defense photo by Staff Sergeant Robert Reeve, March 1991.

A Croat 2S1 (captured from the Serbs) paraded in Dusine, Bosnia & Herzegovina, 26FEB1996. U.S. Army photo by Specialist Alejandro Cabello.

U.S. Army photo by Specialist Alejandro Cabello, 26FEB1996.

The info that came with this June 1999 photo of a Serb 2S1 withdrawing from Kosovo, said it was a SAU-122.

2014 video,  Donetsk People’s Republic forces fired on Ukrainian forces with their 2S1 Gvozdikas:

Syrian 2S1s, possibly in 2017.

According to the info that came with this photo, this is a 2S1 being used by one of the rebel groups in Syria, 2017.

Oklahoma Army National Guard video by First Lieutenant Kayla Christopher, 2S1 Gvozdika live fire near Yavoriv, March 2017:

Is this a 2S1? Modified in Ukraine, the gun is not the 122mm artillery piece. Photo possibly made in 2018.

Self propelled artillery 2S1 Karamfil (Russian name Gvozdika, Гвоздика, carnation) Novo Selo Training Area, Bulgaria. Michigan Army National Guard photo by Specialist Alan Prince, 18JUN2019.

See more Bulgarian 2S1 action in SOVIET ERA ARMOR USED BY NATO: BULGARIA, PLUS THE BULGARIAN BMP-23.

Syrian insurgency, 2012 to present. A 2S1 rolls through a Syrian town.

Russian Eastern Military District photo.

Russian Southern Military District photo.

Russian Southern Military District photo.

Russian Northern Region (Severomorsk) photo.

Russian 2S1, Sambuli Mountains, Tajikistan. Russian Central Military District photo, May 2020.

Pilots from South American countries get a tour of the Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, ‘enemy’ tanks display, 03NOV2020. Notice the 2S1 behind them. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman First Class Zachary Rufus.

Finland calls their former East German 2S1s the 122 PSH 74. The unification of East and West Germany, and end of the unofficial Cold War, allowed the Finns to get them cheap. Puolustusvoimat / Finnish Defense Forces photo.

Russian 2S1s in the Sambuli Mountains of Tajikistan. Russian Central Military District photo, July 2021.

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 2S1 (it is very quick edit, as the majority of the vehicles were 2S3 which you can see in 2S3 Akatsiya [2C3 Акация], Cold War to Ukraine Border Crisis!):

Azerbaijan Defense Ministry video, May 2022:

Cold War Vehicle I-D: BRDM-2, NOW BEING USED AS TAXIS?