Artillery systems of the USSR and former Bloc nations.

As a former artilleryman, I learned a great deal about the history of artillery in a very short amount of time, even making a passing glance at the artillery museum at Fort Sill (I walked up to Atomic Anne). As such, I was mostly educated in US artillery platforms and never saw much of anything about Russian artillery, though I am sure it was taught during the cold war.

So, I am curious, what artillery platforms are in common usage by Russia (USSR and Post-USSR) and former Bloc nations. What are the pros and cons to them versus the US/UK systems?

This is a super broad question.

A lot of early cold war and even ww2 era guns are in use throughout the world, like the 122mm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/122_mm_how ... 1938_(M-30)

and of course plenty of mortars and others.

Generally, conventional soviet artillery was mostly practical, solid and well designed. Up through WW2 at least, all guns would be issued at least a few anti-tank or HEAT shells, to deal with German tank breakthroughs. I don't know if that was kept up post-war, particularly with the advent of the RPG and ATGM's

Broad, yes, and for that I apologize. But it is interesting to know why I've not heard much about their field artillery.

I think the USSR relied heavily on multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) compared to the U.S. These are not as accurate as conventional artillery but provide devastating firepower.