The 2S3 Akatsiya ('Acacia') was designed concurrently with the smaller-caliber 2S1 as the USSR's first Cold War self-propelled artillery systems. The 2S3 featured an all-welded steel hull and turret, with the driver seated at the front left, the powerplant to the right, and the turret to the rear. A dozer blade is fitted under the nose to assist in clearing obstacles. The turret was well-sloped, with curved edges and mounted a 152-mm 2A33 gun which was based on the D-20 towed gun-howitzer. It could fire standard rounds up to a range of 18.5 km which could be extended to 24 km using rocket-assisted projectiles, and could also fire HEAT, armor piercing, incendiary, flechette, and scatterable mines among others. Modernized versions were equpped with longer-barreled guns including some which could fire NATO ammunition. Defensive armament included a 7.62-mm PKT machine gun mounted on the commander's cupola and which could be fired from inside the turret, and full NBC protection was also afforded. Unlike the 2S1, however, the 2S3 was not amphibious. The 2S3 entered service in the early 1970s and became the standard medium-calibre SPG of Soviet tank and motor rifle units, with up to 54 per division stationed in Germany. It was widely exported to Warsaw Pact and other Soviet client states (though in lower numbers than the smaller and cheaper 2S1) and saw action in Afghanistan, Chechniya, as well as numerous conflicts in the Middle East. Large numbers have been used by both Russia and Ukraine in their ongoing conflict.

Design of the 2S3 (Obyekt 303) began in 1967 at the same time as the 2S1 in separate factories. It entered service in 1971 but not seen in public until two years later, thus receiving the NATO designation M1973. It is also known as the SO-152. The 2S3M is a modernized version that features a loading carousel at the expense of slightly reduced ammunition storage, while the 2S3M1 ads a data terminal to the battery command vehicle. Two other upgrades include the 2S3M2 with a longer L/39 caliber gun which can extend the range to 25.1 km, and the 2S3M3 with a 155-mm L/39 gun than can fire NATO standard ammunition.