 The new vehicle was developed by a team of engineers from the SKB (design bureau) of the Perm Machine Building Plant named after V. I. Lenin, using the M-240 towed mortar as the basis.This weapon has a long history, dating back to 1944 when it was first built, but formally adopted into service only in 1950 after addressing numerous deficiencies in the design.The M-240 was produced since 1958 and built in relatively minor numbers; only approx.