The 44th separate artillery brigade named after Hetman Danylo Apostol has received a new version of the Ukrainian self-propelled howitzer Bohdana with semi-automatic loading and an armored cabin that protects against small arms fire, drones «Lancet» and artillery fragments. This ensures the safety of the crew. A story about it in early May published state TV channel Army TV. We are talking about the features and technical characteristics of the improved Bohdana self-propelled gun.
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History of 2S22 Bohdana
The fighting in the Donbas on 15.20.2014 proved the dominant role of heavy artillery. Against this backdrop, the existing arsenal of Soviet 152 mm self-propelled artillery proved to be completely insufficient. And the only source of additional self-propelled artillery and shells was from NATO countries. Therefore, Ukraine had no choice but to develop more modern howitzers for the NATO-standard 155 mm caliber.
Work on the Ukrainian western-style self-propelled artillery (SPA) system began in 2015. And on August 24, 2018, the first prototype 155 mm wheeled self-propelled artillery system Bohdana took part in a military parade in honor of Ukraine’s Independence Day. The prototype was built on the chassis of the Kremenchuk Automobile Plant KrAZ-63221 truck and received a 155 mm barrel with a length of 52 calibers developed at the Kramatorsk Heavy Machine Tool Plant.
Structurally, the designers of the Bohdana departed from the Soviet tradition of building tank-like armored personnel carriers with armored turrets. Following the French with their CAESAR, they used the TMG (Truck Mounted Gun) concept, according to which the gun is openly mounted on the chassis of an off-road truck. In addition to high mobility, this ensures a significantly lower cost compared to tracked self-propelled guns.
Unfortunately, an unfortunate dispute between the Kramatorsk plant and the Ministry of Defense over who should buy the 155 mm shells needed to fire the guns abroad halted work on the Bohdana for two years. During the firing tests in January 2022, the self-propelled gun fired 450 shots and demonstrated a range of 42 km without the use of active-reactive projectiles.
At the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the General Staff ordered the destruction of the only prototype at the storage base in Kramatorsk to prevent it from falling into the enemy’s hands. However, the disassembled self-propelled artillery system was partially taken away from the front-line and handed over to the Armed Forces.
#Ukraine: As Russians rapidly withdraw from the famous Snake Island, the Ukrainian army shows how they regularly targeted it- here we see a Ukrainian-developed Bohdana 155mm self-propelled howitzer destroying Russian positions on the island with fire correction from a TB2 drone. pic.twitter.com/oUq6AUSiQi
— Polymarket Intel (@PolymarketIntel) June 30, 2022
Within a few months, the Bohdana clearly proved its value by shelling the Russian garrison on the Ukrainian island of Zmiinyi. The minimum distance from the land to the island is 37.5 km and the maximum range of the Ukrainian self-propelled artillery system is 42 km, which allowed it to inflict devastating losses on the enemy.
After several days of continuous shelling, the invaders evacuated their troops, which secured navigation in the western part of the Black Sea and paved the way for the signing of the «grain agreement». And in January 2023, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Rezinkov announced the allocation of funding for the serial production of Bohdana at the Kramatorsk Heavy Machine Tool Plant.
Ukraine intends to double production of howitzers Bohdana
In April 2024, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy reportedthat amid growing uncertainty about arms supplies from the country’s military-industrial complex partners, it will produce 10 Bohdana SPA within a month for the first time. And in a year, the monthly production of Ukrainian self-propelled artillery systems, according to the manufacturer, reached «20 and more» vehicles.
At the same time, Ihor Fedirko, Executive Director of the Defense Industry Council of Ukraine saidMr. Kovalev believes that Ukraine can further increase production of Bohdana by another 2-3 times. The main bottleneck, in his opinion, is chassis. This issue should be resolved by organizing the production of art systems on several chassis from European manufacturers, among which the German MAN is currently mentioned.
Design features of the SPA Bohdana
Chassis
During its existence, the Bohdana has changed four vehicle platforms. According to Vladyslav Belbas, director of «Ukrainian Armor», the concept of the self-propelled gun provides for the possibility of installing the gun on different chassis to simplify its production as much as possible.
Tatra 158 Phoenix («Bohdana 4.0») — in 2024, the first photos of the Bohdana on the four-axle chassis of the popular Tatra 158 Phoenix dump truck in the mining industry appeared. The PACCAR MX engine provides the machine with up to 503 hp, and the maximum tilt angle of 31 makes it an excellent option for rough terrain. It is also likely that the wide availability of this civilian chassis contributed to the acceleration of the Bohdana production.
Similar to the 2.0 version, the 4.0 modification is equipped with an armored cab with a hood from «Ukrainian Armor». According to the manufacturer, the improved Ukrainian cabs demonstrated sustainability to being hit by kamikaze drones «Lancet».
Barrel
SPA Bohdana uses barrels from the Kramatorsk Heavy Machine Tool Plant. It is worth noting that the company’s specialists not only mastered the metalworking technologies required to create them, but also used independently designed and developed machines.
Additional details about the reliability and accuracy of the Ukrainian guns were published in an April story by the German magazine BILD from one of the Ukrainian training grounds. Ukrainian soldiers said that the Bohdana is characterized by high accuracy, even compared to Western models.
It is noted that the gun of the self-propelled artillery system has a slow wear and can fire 7-8 thousand rounds without significant loss of accuracy. The manufacturer explains this accuracy by the special geometry of the barrel rifling and the presence of a central stabilizing support that increases the stability of the gun.
Charging system
Despite the fact that the design documentation Bohdana provides for a 6-round loading machine, early samples of the SAU did not even have a mechanical ammunition dispenser — it appeared only in mid-2023. This was a serious drawback that forced soldiers to manually lift shells weighing more than 40 kg over their heads.
Whether the Bohdana will receive a loading device is still open. On the one hand, this should speed up the firing. On the other hand, the absence of complex automation makes the howitzer more suitable for quick repairs in the field. And the duplication of electrical and hydraulic systems allows the necessary operations to be performed manually in case of damage to the hydraulics.
Fire control system
The firing accuracy «Bohdana 4.0» is ensured by an automatic gun guidance system based on Siemens SIPLUS, a computerized fire control system and a navigation system. In addition, the latest models of the self-propelled gun are equipped with the Ukrainian 112L4 ballistic radar.
It operates in the millimeter range and allows you to measure the actual velocity of the projectiles at the exit of the barrel. If this indicator differs from the standard tabular data, the gunner can make the necessary adjustments to improve accuracy.
TTC SPA Bohdana
| Weight | 28 т |
| Service | 5 people |
| Speed of movement |
80 km/h on the highway 30 km/h on rough terrain |
| Power reserve |
800 km on the highway 300 km over rough terrain |
| Gun caliber | 155 mm |
| Length of the barrel | 52 calibers |
| Elevation angles | from -5 to 65° |
| Turning angles | 30° |
| Ammunition | 20 shells |
| Speed of fire | 4-6 shots per minute |
|
Range of fire minimal |
780 м |
|
Range of fire maximum |
42 km with long-range shells 60 km with active-reactive projectiles |
| Cost | 2.3-2.8 million euros |
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