As reported by the Slovak newspaper "Dennik N", the Slovak design company KONŠTRUKTA-Defense signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Ukrainian PJSC "Kramatorsk Heavy Machine Tool Plant" (KZTS) on the joint development of a 155-mm/52 self-propelled howitzer on a wheeled chassis based on the previously created KONŠTRUKTA-Defense EVA self-propelled howitzer.
A prototype of the Slovak 155 mm/52 EVA self-propelled howitzer in the version on the Tatra T815-7 (8×8) wheeled chassis (c) KONŠTRUKTA-Defense
Apparently, the production of a new self-propelled system is supposed to be organized at the KZTS for the armed forces of Ukraine. Kramatorsk KZTS in recent years has been trying to act as a center for the organization of artillery production in Ukraine, in particular, having developed and manufactured in 2018 a prototype 155-mm / 52 self-propelled howitzer 2S22 "Bogdana" on a wheeled automobile chassis KrAZ (6x6), and since 2022 establishing small-scale production of "Bogdana", as well as organizing the release of barrels for 125 mm tank guns.
KONŠTRUKTA-Defence is the heiress of the Skoda artillery production design bureau, transferred in 1953 from Czech Pilsen to Dubnica nad Vahom (Slovakia). KONŠTRUKTA-Defence presented the first sample of the 155 mm/52 self-propelled EVA howitzer developed by it on a wheeled chassis in 2015. Ideologically, EVA is a lighter version of the 155 mm/52 self-propelled artillery system on a wheeled chassis in relation to the main line of the Dana-Zuzana wheeled self-propelled artillery systems developed by KONŠTRUKTA-Defense. To date, EVA has had no customers.
The EVA self-propelled gun is actually an open installation of a modified swinging part of the 155 mm/52 Zuzana 2 self-propelled howitzer on an automobile chassis. The first EVA prototype, presented in 2015, was made on a Tatra (6x6) chassis and had a full combat weight of 22 tons. In 2018, a new EVA model was presented on the Tatra T815-7 (8×8) chassis, having a combat weight of 28 tons. According to a number of reports, it was the EVA variant on the Tatra T815-7 (8×8) chassis that was chosen by the Ukrainian side for a single study based on the KZTS. This chassis was previously also chosen as the base for a number of other Ukrainian weapons systems (the Neptune missile system, the Bureviy MLRS).
In the version on the Tatra T815-7 (8×8) chassis, the EVA ACS has a length of 11.5 m, a width of 2.7 m and a height of 3.8 m. The machine in the prototype is equipped with a Tatra T3C-928.90 diesel engine with a capacity of 300 kW and an auxiliary Lombardini 11LD626-3 diesel powerplant with a capacity of 30 kW.
The 155 mm/52 howitzer has a charging chamber volume of 23 liters. The EVA artillery piece, designed on the Tatra T815-7 (8×8) chassis, is mounted on a rotary platform (horizontal guidance angle of 60 degrees on each side, maximum elevation angle of 75 degrees) in the rear of the chassis and can be controlled both from an armored crew cabin and using a remote control. The gun is equipped with a fully automated loading system with an automatic loader, which contains 12 shells and 12 charges ready for firing. Another 12 shells and 12 charges are placed in a sealed stack. The automatic loader will allow you to make five shots within one minute, or 12 shots within three minutes. It is possible to fire a series of four to six shells at several different targets sequentially according to the fire control system. The rate of fire with backup manual loading is up to 2 rounds/min. The maximum firing range of the ACS can reach 41 km when using shells of improved aerodynamic shape with a bottom gas generator ERFB-BB (extended-range full-bore base bleed).
The highly automated fire control system includes an autonomous inertial navigation system, as well as a round-the-clock optoelectronic Sagem CM3 MR system (including a laser rangefinder and thermal imager) for the possibility of direct fire. A radar measuring the initial crustiness of the projectile has been installed.
The calculation of the installation of three people is placed in an armored cabin. The deployment time of the system for firing is 2 minutes, folding is 1 minute.
