Ukrainian Navy shows rare weapons: gun truck with 2M-3M anti-aircraft gun, Island boat

The Ukrainian Navy has released a report on shooting training including coast artillery systems and ship weaponry. The training is intended to assist Ukrainian marines in resisting Russian missile and drone attacks, as a substantial number of the missiles are launched from the Black Sea to the country's east.

The drills themselves appear to be unremarkable at first glance, but the intricacies are hidden in the minutiae, Defense Express reports.

Gun truck equipped with a 2M-3M naval AA gun during the shooting training in July 2023 / Photo credit: Ukrainian Navy

The 'gun truck' with a 2M-3M naval cannon mounted on top is one of these details. It may appear to be a wartime improvisation, but it appears to be the same vehicle that was initially shown by the Ukrainian Navy in 2021 during training near Ochakiv.

Improvised Ukrainian Navy’s artillery vehicle with a 2M-3M during the drills in June 2021 / Archive photo credit: Security Service of Ukraine

The 2M-3M anti-aircraft autocannon has a stated range of 7.5 km and an altitude ceiling of 2.5 km; it was employed on nearly every class of Soviet cruiser. However, because of the non-standard 25mm caliber and the associated challenges with ammunition manufacturing and delivery, such 'gun trucks' became more of a forced exception than a trend for the Ukrainian military.

Another interesting aspect of the recent Navy training is the presence of Island-class patrol boats in the images, however it's unclear whether those are two different ships or the same one because the identification numbers and vessel names have been deleted. As we can see, the primary weapons are also 2M-3M - a key fact given that Ukraine had expected to arm their Island boats with American arms.

Island-class patrol boat in service with the Ukrainian Navy during the shooting training in July 2023 / Photo credit: Ukrainian Navy

Prior to the Russian invasion, Ukraine received at least four retired US Coast Guard Island-class vessels. The first two, Sloviansk and Starobilsk, arrived unarmed in 2019; they were expected to get weapons from domestic manufacturers. According to a Navy report dated March 8, 2022, the Sloviansk ship sank after a Russian attack.

The Sloviansk Island-class boat which was hit by Russian forces and sank in March, 2023 / Archive photo credit: Ukrainian Navy

Two more boats came in 2021, and the fifth was supposed to come by the end of the year as well, but there have been no reports of it since Russia directed its invasion forces toward Ukraine a few months later. There was no way of knowing whether the new boats received US armaments. The protection screens on the 2M-3M gun seen in the new photographs were most likely fitted during the war; otherwise, they seem just like they did before the invasion.

This Island boat is equipped with a 2M-3M gun, too. Although the others of the same class could have more modern weapons and sighting systems from US manufacturers. Photo from the shooting training in July, 2023 / Photo credit: Ukrainian Navy