 Initially, designers planned to utilize a common chassis used in the 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, but quickly found it was not robust enough to handle the significant recoil (approx.400 tonne-force).A formal agreement to initiate work on the new project was signed on July 4, 1967, but preliminary design had been ongoing at the OKB-3 experimental design bureau since 1966 under G. Yefremov.