2B1 Oka

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2B1 Oka

Type	Self-propelled artillery
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Specifications
Weight	55.3 tons
Height	3 m
Crew	7

Primary armament	420 mm mortar
Engine	I-12-5 diesel 700 hp

2B1 Oka (Russian: 2Б1 Ока) is a Soviet 420 mm self-propelled mortar. 2B1 is its GRAU designation.

An experimental model was ready in 1957. Its chassis (Object 273), was designed and built by the Kirov Plant. Its 20 meter barrel allowed it to fire 750 kg rounds up to 45 km. Due to its complexity of loading it had a relatively low rate of fire - 1 round every 5 minutes. Field tests showed various drawbacks of the entire design (the recoil was too strong for many components - it damaged drive sprockets, tore away the gear-box from its mountings, etc).

Its development continued until 1960, when the idea of such overpowered guns (along with the 2A3), was abandoned in favor of tactical ballistic missiles, such as the 2K6 Luna.