Manufacturer of Bohdana Self-Propelled Howitzer Has Not Received Orders for New Artillery Systems in 9 Months

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has not ordered any new Bohdana artillery systems from the Kramatorsk Heavy Machine-Tool Plant (KZVV) for nine months.

A company representative reported this in an interview with the publication Oboronka.

According to him, the Ukrainian military currently needs more towed artillery due to the expansion of the strike zone on the battlefield.

“But for the past nine months, the government hasn’t placed any orders at all,” the KZVV representative shared.

The company warns that without a new order, it may have to partially halt production in the coming months and place employees on unpaid leave.

“Even if we receive a contract now, we’ll have to partially halt operations for several months, because it will take us half a year just to prepare components for the new contract,” a KZVV representative noted.

According to a representative of Bohdana, preparing components for the new contract could take about six months. The company emphasizes that this situation creates a risk of losing production capacity at precisely the moment when the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ need for artillery remains high.

In the spring, it was reported that Poland was preparing to launch production of the Ukrainian 155-mm 2S22 Bohdana self-propelled artillery system.

The company was to focus primarily on the needs of the Polish military, as well as on the possibility of exporting the vehicles to other countries.

The 2S22 Bohdana is a Ukrainian 155-mm wheeled self-propelled howitzer with a crew of five soldiers; it can fire conventional ammunition up to 42 km and active-reactive ammunition up to 60 km.

Production vehicles are built on various wheeled chassis, including Tatra, which ensures the system’s high mobility.