The Norwegian, German, Slovakian and Danish Ministers of Defence have decided to jointly purchase 16 ZUZANA-2 self-propelled wheeled howitzers from Slovakia to provide additional assistance to Ukraine. As a direct outcome of the conference, The Kingdom of Norway, The Federal Republic of Germany, and the Kingdom of Denmark, recognizing pending legislative and budgetary approvals, aim to jointly finance a Slovak donation of artillery systems to Ukraine worth a total of €92.000.000. Following the Copenhagen Ukraine Donor Conference 11 August 2022, key allies and international partners agreed on the need to enhance and sustain the international longer-term military support to Ukraine in light of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
The ZUZANA-2 self-propelled howitzers will be produced in the Slovak Republic who will start delivering the systems to Ukraine in 2023. The Zuzana 2 is an upgraded version of the Zuzana 155 mm 45 caliber version of the Dana 152 mm 8×8 self-propelled gun-howitzer designed and manufactured by the Slovak Company Konstrukta – Defence. The Defence Ministers of Norway, Germany, Denmark and Slovakia condemn Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and the indiscriminate killing of Ukrainian civilians in the strongest way possible. The ministers are committed to long-term military support to Ukraine together with allies and international partners.
The ZUZANA 2 consists of a chassis and a weapon superstructure. The chassis is based on a four-axle TTATRA 815 vehicle chassis, with a simple installation of wheels. To make crossing of soft terrain easier, the chassis is equipped with Central Tire Inflation System allowing the driver to change tire pressure while driving. The gun howitzer can ford up to depth of 1,2 m. The driver has a passive night vision system for driving at night. The weapon is stabilised in a fire post with weapon supports fitted to the chassis. The weapon is equipped with the inertial navigation equipment and muzzle velocity radar.
The main armament is 155mm/52 calibre gun, which is 8.2m-long and weighs 1,894kg. It can fire six 155mm Nato projectiles per minute in automatic mode and two rounds per minute in manual mode. It offers a minimum firing range of 5km and a maximum range of 41km with ERFB-BB shells. ZUZANA 2 is capable of conducting multiple round simultaneous impact (MRSI) operations. The 155mm ZUZANA 2 SpGH is equipped with M2HB-QCB Browning 0.50 inch machine gun for air defense and direct protection. Alternatively the NSV 12.7 mm machine gun can be used. To protect against armor technology threat there is the RPG-75 AT carried in the weapon.
