MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th November, 2020) Russian state tech corporation Rostec said on Wednesday its industrial design bureau had completed the acceptance tests of the Lotos self-propelled mortar system for Russia's airborne forces.
"The Central Research Institute for Precision Machine Engineering of the Rostec state corporation has completed the acceptance tests of the 2S42 120mm prospective Lotos self-propelled artillery gun. The combat vehicle for the airborne troops has proven matching the target tactical and technical characteristics," the agency said in a press release.
With a Lotos sample having gone 400 kilometers (250 miles) and fired 14 times during the acceptance test, the military experts established it was fit to proceed to the next stage of trials, according to the press release.
"We expect that the next stage � preliminary trials � will begin already this year," Rostec Industrial Director Bekkhan Ozdoyev was quoted as saying.
Lotos is expected to replace Nona Soviet self-propelled guns in the Russian airborne forces. The new mortar system has a 120-millimeter (4.7 inches) main gun with a firing distance of up to 13 kilometers (8 miles). The vehicle itself can travel at least 500 kilometers without recharging at a maximum speed of 70 kilometers per hour. The machine accommodates four crew members.
