The Ukrainian military received modernized 2S22 Bohdana self-propelled guns with a powered rammer.

The press service of the 1st Special Purpose Brigade published the photo of the artillery system.

The artillerymen of the 1st Special Purpose Brigade were seen using Bohdana ACS with a powered rammer on the front line. This brigade was the first in the country to receive new Ukrainian self-propelled artillery systems.

First spotted by Militarnyi in early November, the modernized artillery unit was photographed in detail, so there is no longer any doubt about the purpose of the new superstructure.

The design of the powered rammer is visually similar to that used on Soviet 2S7 Pion 203mm self-propelled guns.

The Soviet mechanism requires manual placement of the projectile into a special tray, from which it is then lifted and sent into the barrel channel.

In the video, this process requires the involvement of two crew members at once, but in the case of using much lighter 155-mm shells, one soldier can handle it.

The introduction of the powered rammer should solve the problem of manual loading, which was one of the main drawbacks of the prototype and previous models of 2S22 Bohdana ACS. In interviews, the crew of such self-propelled guns said that in the absence of this mechanism, the rate of fire was cut in half.

“Without a powered rammer, the rate of fire is divided by two. If we had a powered rammer, we could fire about six rounds per minute. The crew’s efforts result in about three,” said a soldier with the call sign “Papa”.

Militarnyi’s sources in the Ukrainian military industry suggest that the powered rammer has been tested in recent months.

The system was planned already at the stage of design documentation development, but due to the war, it was temporarily abandoned to start production of the self-propelled gun in the war.

The next step in the development of the self-propelled howitzer is to further automate the guidance and firing processes, as well as to eliminate the shortcomings identified during operation.