MOSCOW, February 7 (AVN) - The 2001 state order does not envisage allocations for R&D works and tests of the 133mm Bereg self-propelled artillery system, the Military News Agency learned on Wednesday.
Earlier the Navy took great interest in the system, which is designed for hitting sea and coastal targets at a range of more than 22km and has a high rate of fire - up to 10 shots per minute. The Barrikady production enterprise in Volgograd produced three systems before the financing stopped.
This is due to the Navy command's decision on redistribution of the allocations in favour of strategic and tactical naval missile armaments, a source in the Navy's missile and artillery administration told the Agency.
According to specialists, the Navy's coastal artillery and the entire system of coastal fortifications have been greatly weakened in the past few years. In particular, it concerns the Trans-Polar region, where almost all coastal artillery units guarding approaches to the Kola bay throat and fairways leading to North Fleet bases have been reduced.