Ukrainian self-propelled howitzer 2S22 Bohdana was pushed into service after the Russian invasion in 2022. In June 2022 Ukrainian forces used Bohdana to liberate the Snake Island and since then they’ve been trying to push Bohdana into series production.
The development of the self-propelled Ukrainian 155 mm howitzer Bohdana was not easy, but now it’s in production, EP writes. The Bohdana project is a good reminder that Ukraine chose its own path a long time ago. The caliber of this howitzer is a NATO-standard 155 mm – not the Russian 152 mm. And it was intensively developed by Ukraine in 2015-2018.
Ukrainian self-propelled howitzer Bohdana on a Belarusian MAZ platform. Image credit: Armyinform.com.ua via Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0)
Since the outbreak of the war, the Russians have been launching missiles at the Kramatorsk Heavy Duty Machine Tool Building Plant, where Bohdana was made. Now the company has been relocated and its activities have resumed. Currently, up to 6 Bohdana self-propelled howitzers are produced per month, but there are plans in motion to increase their production rate.
According to sources in the Ukrainian forces, about 30 Bohdana self-propelled howitzers have already been purchased for the Ukrainian army. In addition, a towed version of the gun is being developed. The Bohdana completed battlefield trials and proved to be a great artillery weapon.
25 companies and about 400 people are involved in the production of the Bohdana. Production was decentralized to make it resilient against Russian attacks. The Bohdana chassis was initially manufactured by KrAZ, but after the bankruptcy of the company, an alternative had to be found.
In 2021 that alternative became Belarusian MAZ. After the beginning of the war, economic relations between Ukraine and Belarus were cut off, but there are still MAZ chassis left in Ukraine, so Bohdana howitzers are still produced on the MAZ platform. In the future, they may be completely replaced by the Czech Tatra T815-7 chassis, which are already in use, although cost twice as much.
One of the original Bohdana howitzers on KrAZ chassis. Image credit: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Price, of course, is important. It is now estimated that the Bohdana should be half the price of the French CAESAR. Ukrainians believe that African, Asian and Latin American countries might be interested in purchasing these howitzers after the war.
According to Vladislav Belbas, head of the production of armoured vehicles in Ukraine, the Bohdana concept envisages the possibility of mounting the gun on different chassis.
The Bohdana does not yet have an automatic loader, but that might be a good thing, because a simpler weapon is more reliable and easier to repair. According to EP journalists, the Russian forces have not yet destroyed any of the Bohdana howitzers, and the few that were damaged are being repaired.
Written by Povilas M.
Sources: Antikor.com.ua, Wikipedia