As the German Ministry of Defense reported on October 2, 2022, the governments of Germany, Denmark and Norway reached an agreement on joint financing in equal shares of the production and purchase in Slovakia of 16 Zuzana 2 self-propelled howitzers of 155-mm/52 caliber on a wheeled chassis for subsequent delivery to Ukraine. The total cost of the program is 92 million euros. Deliveries of these systems to Ukraine should be started in 2023.
Two of the four transferred to Ukraine 155 mm/52 self-propelled howitzers Zuzana 2 Slovak production, August 2022 (from) TwitterOn the part of bmpd, we recall that at the beginning of June 2022, Slovakia itself has already signed a contract for the transfer to Ukraine of eight 155-mm/52 Zuzana 2 self-propelled howitzers, from among those manufactured for the Slovak army under the 2018 contract and planned to be delivered to the Slovak Ministry of Defense in 2022.
The first four of these eight self-propelled guns of the new construction were transferred to the Ukrainian side in early August 2022, and in September were seen at firing ranges in Western Ukraine, but then, as reported, they were again sent to Slovakia to the factory to correct the identified defects in the shock absorbers of the wheeled chassis.
The 155 mm/52 self-propelled howitzer Zuzana 2 on a wheeled armored chassis (8x8) is a modified model of the 155 mm/45 self-propelled howitzer Zuzana developed in the early 1990s (Zuzana 2000, manufactured in the amount of 16 units for the Slovak army and 12 for Cyprus), which, in turn, was the development of the famous Czechoslovak 152 mm /37 self-propelled howitzer Dana on the same wheeled chassis. All systems of the Dana and Zuzana families were mass-produced and are being produced (Zuzana 2) by the current Slovak enterprise ZTS - ŠPECIÁL in Dubnica (the former artillery production of Skoda).
The developer of Zuzana and Zuzana 2 is the Slovak company KONSTRUKTA - Defense - actually an artillery design bureau, part of the Slovak holding DMD Group, partially controlled by the Czech-Slovak private association Czechoslovak Group Yaroslav Strnad. The company ZTS - ŠPECIÁL is also part of the DMD Group.
The Zuzana 2 is structurally similar to the Zuzana and Dana systems, but uses a 155 mm/52 howitzer. The armored chassis based on the Tatra T815 automotive part with an 8x8 wheel formula is equipped with a 330 kW Tatra T3B-928-70 V-8 diesel engine and an automatic transmission. The combat weight of the system is 32.4 tons, ammunition 40 rounds with charges, the crew is four people. Zuzana 2 is equipped with a modern automated fire control system, a navigation system, a round-the-clock opto-electronic system, a radar measuring the initial velocity of the projectile, an air conditioning system and an anti-WMD protection system. The maximum rate of fire is 6 rounds / min or a series of 16 shots in three minutes, long - 4 rounds / min.
In 2018, the Slovak Ministry of Defense issued a contract worth 175 million euros to KONSTRUKTA - Defense and ZTS - ŠPECIÁL for the supply of 25 serial Zuzana 2 self-propelled howitzers to the Slovak army. The first eight Zuzana 2 self-propelled howitzers under this contract were received by the Slovak army in July 2021, eight more by the end of 2021, and the remaining nine must they were accepted in 2022 - eight of the latter were then ceded to the Ukrainian side.
Now the production and purchase of another 16 Zuzana 2 for Ukraine is being planned at the expense of Germany, Denmark and Norway.