Object 934 Obzhimka

ChieftainWarrior · January 1, 2025, 7:15pm

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Object 934 Obzhimka

TL;DR: Object 934 light tank equipped with a new turret armed with a 120mm mortar/howitzer, a predecessor to the 2S31 Vena

History
In 1969-1970, a plan was issued by the Soviet Minister of Defence Andrei Grechko for the next 3 years to develop a light tank to replace the aging PT-76. There were 4 main requirements:

The tank was to weigh no more than 15t
The tank was to be armed with a rifled 100mm cannon, the 9M111 ATGM, and a 12.7mm machine gun
The tank was to be protected against 23mm AP from the front, and have nuclear radiation protection
The tank was to be able to reach 70km/h on land and 12km/h in water, and have a range of 700km

3 different proposals were presented by May 1971:

Object 788, Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant
Object 934, Volgograd Tractor Plant
Object 934B, Volgograd Tractor Plant

The Object 934 was chosen after review of these plans.

Later in 1972, the Kurgan Machine-Building Plant was also tasked with developing a vehicle to fit these requirements, which resulted in the Object 685.

Three prototypes of the Object 934 were constructed, but in 1980, the project was cancelled in favour of the Object 688 (BMP-3) currently under development with much more promising characteristics.

Back in 1976, following years of development of new airborne armoured vehicles and the integration of mortar carriers, the development of a 120mm-mortar airborne SPG was launched. This was codenamed Nona-S (2S9). In 1976 the first prototype was produced and in 1979 the vehicle entered service.

In 1985 research and development began for an improved 120mm self-propelled gun, codenamed Nona-2. A prototype was produced which fitted an upgraded 120mm cannon on the 2S1 Gvozdika hull. The development of a new cannon designated LP-77 was carried out from 1986-1987. A prototype of the Nona-2 with the LP-77 cannon was built on the Planer-1 chassis.

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Nona-2 on Planer hull

In 1988 a new project was launched following the Nona-2 program. This was codenamed ‘Obzhimka’ and used modified Nona-2 components and plans. This led to the creation of a prototype utilising the hull of the Object 934 light tank.

In 1990 development began of a further upgraded version, codenamed ‘Vena’, which resulted in the mass-produced 2S31. The Obzhimka program is sometimes, inaccurately, referred to with the 2S31 designation.

2S31 Vena, the end-result of these programs

The sole prototype of the Object 934 Obzhimka remains in the TsNIITochMash headquarters in Klimovsk, albeit in a poor state.

Object-934-Light-Tank-120mm-Mortar-2

The surviving vehicle

Characteristics
The Obj. 934 Obzhimka is armed with a stabilised 120mm LP-77 mortar/howitzer in a fully-traversable turret. The LP-77 is derived from the 2S9 Nona’s 2A51 120mm, and is the prototype to the 2S31 Vena’s 2A80. This weapon is more of a hybrid between a mortar and a howitzer. It can fire both traditional mortar rounds and anti-tank rounds. The 3BK19 HEAT-FS round penetrates 600-650mm of armour, but has only 560m/s velocity, and there are a number of HE rounds available for use. The tank also has a laser rangefinder.

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The inside of the turret

As secondary armament, the tank has a 7.62mm PKT machine gun. It also has six 81mm smoke grenade launchers, three on either side of the main gun.

The tank is thinly armoured, only able to resist small-calibre bullets. The hull frontal arc is resistant to 23mm AP rounds, and the sides against 12.7mm rounds, and rear resistant to 7.62mm rounds. It’s fitted with a 3V-2-06 diesel engine that provides 400hp and enables a top speed of 70km/h. The weight of the Obzhimka is unclear, but the turret of the 2S31 Vena weighs around 1.1t. The Object 934 weighs 17.5t in total. It would be safe to say equipping it with the Obzhimka turret wouldn’t change the weight too much, so 17-18t, which gives the vehicle a power-to-weight ratio of 22.2-23.5hp/t.

Conclusion
The Object 934 Obzhimka would be a very fun light tank/tank destroyer for the Soviet tree, and would likely fit at a BR of around 8.7, with great mobility and powerful anti-tank rounds, that are, however, limited by their low velocity. It would be a good premium/event counterpart to vehicles like the 2S9 Nona and 2S31 Vena that could be researchable.

Specifications
Armament