Ukraine's defense forces hit the Russian Floks (Phlox) self-propelled artillery system for the first time, public activist and volunteer Serhii Sternenko reported, attaching a corresponding video in a Telegram post.

He pointed out that in a recent report, the Russian military had announced the delivery of a newly developed self-propelled artillery system – the 2S40 Floks, which is uniquely designed to function as both a mortar and conventional howitzer.

However, Sternenko reported, the Ukrainian reconnaissance group "Ocean's Twelve" struck it with a drone.

"The consequences of the strike are unknown, whether it [the system] was destroyed or damaged, because the range of the damage exceeds the range of the available air reconnaissance equipment," he concluded.

In footage captured by the drone, the unmanned aerial vehicle silently approaches the mortar position under cover of darkness, before the video transmission abruptly cuts out, suggesting a direct hit was scored on the target.

REFERENCE. 2C40 or "Floks" is a Russian 120-mm self-propelled artillery system designed to support ground forces formations: suppression of manpower, artillery and mortar batteries, rocket launchers, armored targets, fire means and control points.

The system uses the chassis of the Ural-4320 high-terrain armored truck.

The Russian military asserts that a key capability of the Floks self-propelled howitzers is their combined semi-automatic rifled barrel, allowing the system to fire both high-explosive mortar mines and conventional artillery shells without the need to change weapons or calibers between munitions.

It is served by a crew of four people.

Declared firing range:

→ high-explosive fragmentation projectile – 8.5 km;

→ guided artillery projectile – 10 km;

→ high-explosive fragmentation bomb – 7 km.

At the beginning of October 2023, the Russian state corporation Rostec announced the beginning of the transfer of these self-propelled guns to the armed forces.
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