Bohdana-B: prospects of towed artillery for the Armed Forces of Ukraine

According to an article by Ekonomichna Pravda, Ukrainian developers of the 2S22 Bohdana self-propelled artillery system are involved in creating its towed version.

The Directorate of Missile Forces and Artillery confirmed this information.

“Yes, it is being developed. Now, we are working on towed guns. This is something that relates specifically to artillery systems,” Brigadier General Serhii Baranov, Head of the Main Directorate of Missile Forces and Artillery of the General Staff, stated.

The development of a towed howitzer seems to be related to the fact that Ukraine produces more guns than it has time to mount them on chassis. This hypothesis is indirectly confirmed by the simultaneous production of several versions of the self-propelled guns on different platforms.

Advantages and disadvantages of towed artillery

Towed artillery is less mobile compared to self-propelled artillery systems, which is an important parameter on the modern battlefield. Therefore, in the case of counter-battery fire, a self-propelled system will be able to immediately leave the firing position at the first incoming strike, while the towed one will need time to roll up.

Another advantage of self-propelled systems is the ability to fire from an armor-protected combat compartment, which is not available to the towed artillery. For example, it is common for Soviet Akatsiya and Msta-S howitzers to withstand close incoming strikes of 155-mm artillery and M30A1 shrapnel rockets.

Towed artillery also has a number of significant advantages. Their production is much cheaper, easier, and accordingly faster compared to self-propelled installations, which is currently a key factor for Ukraine.

In addition, towed howitzers are more reliable and easier to operate due to the absence of the most complex components and assemblies. In the event of a truck breakdown, it can simply be replaced.

Subjectively, one can also note the high “survivability” of such artillery systems and their crews. In the event of damage by shrapnel or hits by kamikaze drones, towed howitzers are often sent for repair with the replacement of some components and returned to the front line. At the same time, self-propelled artillery often suffers irreparable damage.

The promising Bohdana-B should replace the Soviet towed guns, which are already obsolete and worn out after ten years of hostilities. In the long run, the armed forces will need hundreds of new howitzers for a complete upgrade.

How much will towed Bohdana cost?

The exact cost of the self-propelled version of the Bohdana is currently unknown. According to Vladyslav Belbas, CEO of Ukrainian Armor Design and Manufacturing Company, which promotes this howitzer for export, it was 30-50% cheaper than the French Caesar self-propelled howitzer in the 2021-2022 tenders.

The cost of a French howitzer on the world market is about $5 million, therefore, with this ratio, Bohdana would cost about $2.5-3 million.

Another issue is the degree to which the future howitzer will become cheaper when transferred from a truck chassis to a towed gun carriage.

According to a 2020 Ukrainian Ministry of Defense tender, the cost of new MAZ-6317 three-axle trucks, its localized version Bohdana-6317, and KrAZ-63221 ranged from $300,000 per unit. In addition, cab armoring and chassis adaptation operations also remain costly and can cost an additional $100-200 thousand.

When the artillery unit is transferred to the towed platform, the carriage with swivel mechanisms and the fire control system should remain unnecessary. However, their cost is unknown.

Accordingly, the order of prices for the towed analog of Bohdana may decrease from approximately $2.5-3 million to $1.5-2 million. By comparison, prices for the more technological American M777 howitzer in the 2018 Indian contract were about $3.5 million.

Gun carriage for Bohdana

The gun carriage is a platform for the artillery part of the howitzer on which the barrel, bolt, and recoil mechanism are mounted. It must withstand the energy of the shot and ensure proper transportation of the entire structure.

It is not yet known what its appearance will be. To simplify production, Ukrainian engineers could borrow the design from one of the Soviet howitzers.

Thus, the artillery part of the Ukrainian self-propelled gun is similar to the Soviet Msta-B howitzer, having only a slightly modified breech and an 860 mm longer barrel.

Another potential direction to reduce the cost of production of towed artillery could be the repeated use of gun carriages of worn-out Soviet howitzers, which, due to the failure of barrels and recoil mechanisms, are no longer used.

In addition to the already announced Msta, the likely candidates for conversion could be the Giatsint-B, D-20, and М-46 howitzers, which were in service in large numbers with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Now Serbian company Yugoimport SDPR at one time successfully implemented a similar project, developing a М-46/84 155mm howitzer. The installation consisted of an adapted gun carriage of М-46 130mm gun and a new artillery unit with a barrel length of 45 calibers.

Prospects of towed artillery

The Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which have been scaled up several times, are experiencing a shortage of artillery systems, a situation that is exacerbated by their constant retirement due to wear and tear and combat losses. At the same time, Western allies are unable to meet the needs of the Ukrainian military in a short time.

The solution to this problem was the deployment of artillery production inside the country. Thus, in the second year since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian industry has established the production of 2S22 Bohdana 155mm self-propelled howitzers. It is reported that as of December this year, their production reached six units per month, which, however, is not enough on the military scale.

Quantitatively, the issue of artillery should be solved by a towed version of the howitzer, which will become cheap and easy to manufacture and an alternative that will saturate the artillery units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.