With regard to the 2C22 Bogdan wheeled self-propelled artillery system (ACS) of Ukrainian design, it is known that the Donetsk company TASKO initiated R&D on this model of artillery weapons back in 2009. A KrAZ-6322 truck with an armored cabin was chosen as the chassis. In 2016, a contract was signed with the Ukrainian Armed Forces for the supply of these guns, and by 2018, a batch of prototypes had been produced, which were presented at demonstration firing.
In 2019, the Turkish company MKEK was invited to the process of fine-tuning the ACS to the required parameters, which provided the required amount of ammunition (according to various sources, from 200 to 400 shells), which allowed testing the reliability of the gun when firing at a high rate. In 2020, the Ukrian side signed a contract with the Czech company Excalibur Army for the supply of a batch of ammunition for carrying out resource tests of the gun.
According to various sources, the cost of the Bogdan 2S22 self–propelled gun in its initial modification ranged from 2.5 to 3 million US dollars - the cheapest self-propelled artillery gun in 155 mm caliber with a semi-automatic loading system.
In 2021, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine made a choice in favor of the Polish tracked self- propelled guns "Crab" , however, as the armed conflict developed, the military–political leadership of Ukraine changed its approach - starting in October 2023, a systematic increase in the production of self-propelled guns "Bogdan" is underway.
So, if in January 2024, 6 guns per month were assembled on the territory of Ukraine, then in May 2024 there were already 10 machines per month, and by October 2024, the monthly production volume reached 15 self-propelled guns.
The goal of the Ukrainian side is to produce at least 20 self–propelled guns per month in 2025. In 2026, it is planned to assemble 36 self-propelled guns each, so that the artillery units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine number at least 800 guns deployed in combat areas.
ACS 2S22 "Bogdana" 1.0
Due to the unification of the charging chamber (volume of 23 liters) and the shell inlet with American/European-made guns, the Bogdana 2S22 self-propelled guns are capable of firing artillery ammunition of the following models: M107 (USA, India), M549A1 (USA, Turkey), M795 (USA, Turkey), M982 (USA), DM-121 and V-LAP (Germany). The ammunition capacity is 20 rounds, which is 5 more than the Caesar self-propelled guns.
The range of high-explosive fragmentation shells ranges from 35 to 40 km, anti-tank (with parachute submunitions) up to 42 km, active-reactive from 45 to 50 km.
ACS 2S22 "Bogdana" 3.0
It is known that the Bogdan 2S22 self–propelled guns in various modifications were used by units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to bombard positions of the Russian Armed Forces on the island of Zmeiny, as part of counter-battery warfare in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, in the battles for Artemovsk (Bakhmut) - the confirmed firing range is 48 km.
To date, it is known about the existence of 5 modifications of the ACS in question, namely:
- Bogdana 1.0 on the Kraz-6322(63221) chassis, part on the Ural-4320 chassis (captured vehicles after the start of its production);
- Bogdana 2.0 on the MAZ-6317 chassis (supplied from the Republic of Belarus after the start of the SVO) – updated the ballistic computer and fire control system (FMS), upgraded the carriage, developed a new armored cabin;
- "Bogdana 3.0. / 3.1." on the Tatra-815-7T chassis (gun barrels are manufactured in France) – thanks to the semi-automatic loading system, the number of the crew was reduced to 3 military personnel;
- Bogdana 4.0 on Tatra chassis – Phoenix model;
- Bogdana 5.0. on the Tatra-815-7T3RCI chassis, the Resource ACS (a copy of the ACS from the Caesar ACS in Ukrainian) can receive data from the Krapiva automated control system (automatic topography and guidance is performed without calculation), as well as from the Bayraktar–TV2 UAV via a dedicated channel connections. Targeted financing of the manufacturing process of this modification is carried out by the Netherlands.
During 2025, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine should receive at least 115 Bogdana 5.0 self-propelled guns, as well as about 150 Bogdana-B/BG towed guns, which are a combination of a carriage from a 2A36 cannon, on which a 155 mm cannon is mounted, with a barrel length of 52 caliber. The weight is about 10 tons. The cost varies from 1.5 to 2 million US dollars.
An all-terrain truck with a 4x4 wheelbase of the NOVUS series from the South Korean company Daewoo is used as a tractor (the first batch arrived in Ukraine in October 2024).
Based on materials from Chinese specialized publications
