Two variants of this Russian tank destroyer are coming in the Hornet’s Sting major update — one as a standard researchable vehicle, and one as a squadron vehicle!
2S19M1 (researchable) and 2S19M2 (Squadron Vehicle): A Tank Destroyer for the USSR at Rank V
At a glance:
- Long-barreled 152 mm howitzer!
- HE, APHEBC, and HEAT rounds.
- Autoloader.
- Good mobility.
- Not much armor protection.
Vehicle History
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The development of the 2S19 “Msta-S” began at the Ural Plant in 1976, and later on design bureaus of several companies in the Soviet’s military industry were involved in the work. The first one was released in 1983 and a year later, field tests began with the 2S19 being accepted into service in 1989. Based on operating experience, some shortcomings of the vehicle appeared, primarily related to the imperfect fire control system. These shortcomings were eliminated with the advent of the modernized 2S19M1 and 2S19M2 variants. In addition to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the 2S19 is in service with Venezuela, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Ethiopia and Georgia.
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Introducing the 2S19M1 and 2S19M2!
In the Hornet’s Sting major update, the 2S19M1 and M2, featuring a long-barreled 152 mm howitzer, an automatic loader and a good selection of shells are coming to the Soviet ground forces tree. Specifically, the 2S19M1 will be in the research line and the 2S19M2 will come as a new Squadron Vehicle. Let’s take a closer look!
The main weapon of the 2S19M1 and M2 is the long-barreled 152 mm howitzer that features automatic gun loading. There’s a plethora of available shells for this mighty gun, including two HE shells with up to 11.7 kg in TNT equivalent, a HE-VT shell, a HEAT shell and an APHEBC shell. These are all good for different scenarios that you may encounter while in battle!
All of the available ammunition — where a maximum of 50 can be taken into battle — is stored in the turret and is fed into the breech of the gun through an autoloader. The rate of fire is the main difference between the researchable 2S19M1 and 2S19M2 squadron vehicle at 8 and 10 rounds per minute respectively. Both reload rates are good and don’t depend on the skills of your crew!
Interesting: Most likely, “Msta” was named after a small river that flows in the Novgorod and Tver regions of Russia. However, there is also a version that the name of this vehicle is associated with an obsolete form of the word “revenge” in Russian.
If the 2S19M1 and M2’s hull looks familiar, then you’re right. This hull is from the T-80 and T-72 series tanks, with reworked armor protection parameters to reduce the overall weight. The 2S19M1 and M2 can reach a maximum road speed of 60 km/h, but — as very typical to Soviet and Russian tanks — the reverse speed is really poor at just 4 km/h.
In terms of surviving hits from enemy tanks, well it might be a bit of a problem. That’s because this vehicle is huge in size, has a low reverse speed, has poor gun depression and is very difficult to hide the vehicle in a bush or behind terrain cover. In addition to this, the 2S19M1 and M2 will generally be an easy target for aircraft due to the large size and thin armor. This armor will be able to withstand fire from machine guns, but anything larger in caliber will pierce straight through and give you a bad day.
So, we’ve talked about the good and bad. How do you play this thing? Get to a good position for sniper fire or go behind your teammates when attacking as a support vehicle. With a careful, yet aggressive playstyle, the 2S19M1 and M2 will show their best side thanks to their firepower and reload speed.
That’s it for this one! You can research the 2S19M1 in the Soviet research tree and get the 2S19M2 for squadron activity points or buy it outright for Golden Eagles with the release of the Hornet’s Sting major update. Happy tanking!
Please note that this vehicle’s characteristics may be changed before it is added to the game.
