The Slovak company KONŠTRUKTA-Defence (part of the Slovak state association DMD Group) on August 1, 2023, at its head office in Dubnica nad Vagom, as the head contractor, handed over to the armed forces of Ukraine the first two Zuzana 2 self-propelled howitzers of 155 mm/52 caliber on a wheeled chassis, manufactured under a contract dated November 2022 a year for the production and supply of 16 such systems to Ukraine. This contract under the relevant agreement is fully funded jointly by the Governments of Germany, Denmark and Norway in the amount of 92 million euros.
The first two 155 mm/52 Zuzana 2 self-propelled howitzers transferred to Ukraine under a contract dated November 2022 for the production and supply of 16 such systems. Dubnica nad Vagom (Slovakia), 01.08.2023 (c) KONŠTRUKTA-Defence
Earlier, at the beginning of June 2022, Slovakia itself signed the first 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, but then they were again sent to Slovakia to the factory to correct the identified defects in the shock absorbers of the wheeled chassis, and were finally transferred to the APU only at the end of September. Two more self-propelled guns under this contract were transferred to Ukraine in early October, one in November, and one in January 2023.
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 serially produced and are being produced (Zuzana 2) by the Slovak enterprise ZTS - ŠPECIÁL, also part of the DMD Group, in Dubnica nad Vag (the former Skoda artillery production, created as a separate Skoda plant in 1937 and completely transferred there from Czech Pilsen in 1953 and in socialist times was called name of ZTS).The developer of Zuzana and Zuzana 2 and the general contractor for their supply within the DMD Group is KONSTRUKTA - Defense - in fact, the artillery design bureau, called KONŠTRUKTA Trenčín until 1993, was moved to Dubnica nad Vagom from Trenčín in 2013.
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 shots / min or a series of 16 shots in three minutes, long - 4 shots / 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 supposed to enroll in 2022, but as a result, eight of the latter were then ceded to the Ukrainian side.
