Following the Russian invasion of Crimea and the Donbas in 2013/2014, Ukraine began a general effort to modernise its armed forces. One area in which such effort took place was artillery, with a development effort launched to develop a domestic 155mm Self-Propelled Gun.
A prototype was constructed in early 2018, which began testing on the 7th of August that same year. State trials of the prototype took place starting in December 2019 and lasted well into 2021. By the outbreak of the 2022 full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine, only this single prototype existed.
To prevent it from falling into enemy hands, the order was given to destroy it in the early days of the conflict. Despite the order to destroy the system, the manufacturer only ever disassembled it. It was later reassembled when it became clear that Kyiv was no longer under immediate threat and then saw action during the battle for Snake Island.
Full-scale production of the system has since been launched, with Ukrainian President Zelensky claiming during a speech last September that the country is now producing 18-20 2S22 Bohdana per month. Additionally, the country has seemingly successfully adapted the gun from the 2S22 to be fitted onto the carriages of legacy towed Soviet systems.
Variants
First of all a disclaimer. As of writing this article, no official naming scheme exists for the 2S22. This article is instead a way for me to share my personal naming scheme for the 2S22 family of Self-Propelled and Towed Guns.
- 2S22 Mod. 1; This is the initial prototype that was constructed in 2018 on the basis of a KrAZ-6322 chassis.
- 2S22 Mod. 1.1; Scale model of a potential production variant shown off at IDEX-2023.
- 2S22 Mod. 1.2; A render of what seems to be a 2S22 equipped with an automated loading system akin of the BAE Archer and mounted on a larger 8s8 chassis.
2S22 Mod. 2; The first production variant of the 2S22 first spotted in May of 2023 based on a MAZ-6317 6×6 chassis.
- 2S22 Mod. 2.1; The Mod. 2 equipped with an assisted loading system for shells.
- 2S22 Mod. 3; The second production model of the 2S22 build on a Tatra 817 8×8 truck which is rumoured to have been salvaged from Ukraine’s modernized fleet of BM-27 Urugan MLRS after they ran out of ammunition.
- 2S22 Mod. 3.1; The Mod. 2 equipped with an assisted loading system for shells as seen on the Mod. 2.1.
- 2S22 Mod. 4; The third serial production variant based on the Tatra Phoenix 8×8 truck chassis. This is the most numerous variant of the 2S22 in Ukrainian service and also the one currently in production. Unlike the previous 2 models this one comes with the assisted shell loading system as standard.
- Bohdana-B; The first reports that Ukraine was developing a towed variant of the 2S22 came out in December of 2023. Later in August of 2024 Ukrainska Pravda reported that development of a towed 2S22 was still ongoing but that the developers were also looking into reusing the carriages of legacy Soviet towed guns. Among potential candidates were the 2A36 and 2A65 with the D-20 also considered for a potentially shorter barrelled variant.
Then in September of 2024, the Bohdana-B was shown off to the public for the first time mounted on the carriage of a Soviet Legacy 2A36. It is currently unclear if production of this system has kicked off yet or if it is still in testing.
Sources
- Tests of the Bohdana self-propelled guns began today
- Tests of Bohdana self-propelled guns have begun
- Ukraine produces up to 20 Bohdana self-propelled guns per month
- Experimental Bohdana self-propelled guns were used against the occupiers
- Bohdana self-propelled howitzer switched to Tatra chassis
- Bohdana: search for the optimal chassis or an attempt to fill the Defense Forces with artillery?
- Bohdana-B Video
- Bohdana-B: prospects for towed artillery for the Armed Forces of Ukraine
- Ukraine is developing a trailed version of the Bohdana