Zuzana-2 howitzers are the new ‘big guns’ headed to Ukraine to fight Russia.
Russia’s recent annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson has left the Ukrainian military in a difficult position. With little hope of overtaking Russian forces, Ukraine has to defend its remaining territory.
Zuzana-2 joins the war
Germany, Denmark, and Norway will send the Zuzana-2 self-propelled artillery units made in Slovakia. These units are a big step up from the aging Soviet-era artillery currently used by the Ukrainians – and they could be enough to make things even more complicated for Russia.
The Zuzana 155 mm Gun Howitzer requires a crew of six to operate and is equipped with a state-of-the-art guidance system that makes it highly accurate, even when fired at long range. The Howitzer is also equipped with GPS guidance, making it very accurate even in poor weather conditions.
16 Zuzana-2 Self Propelled Howitzers are being bought by Norway 🇳🇴, Denmark 🇩🇰, and Germany 🇩🇪 for Ukraine 🇺🇦
— Ukraine Battle Map (@ukraine_map) October 2, 2022
They will cost $90 million and will be delivered to Ukraine next year
Zuzana-2 is made by Slovakia 🇸🇰 and holds up to 40 155m artillery projectiles with a range of 40km pic.twitter.com/UgtHX5JOcn
Now, the Zuzana-2 will soon enter service with the Ukrainian military and will help Ukraine take back territory that has been seized by Russia.
Despite having modern artillery such as the M270 o HIMARS, they are in limited quantities and cannot be deployed in every city. So, Ukraine often uses older, less sophisticated Soviet-made artillery to fight against the Russians, like the TOS-1.
In any case, the addition of the Zuzana-2 howitzers will give the Ukrainian Army a significant boost in firepower, especially now that the war will take a new turn when Russia officially annexes new territories.
It will join the HIMARS
The powerful HIMARS artillery system is one of the newest weapons in the US military arsenal. Capable of firing rockets and missiles over long distances, HIMARS has proved itself to be a highly effective tool for engaging enemy targets.
One of the critical advantages of HIMARS is its high degree of accuracy. It can strike targets with pinpoint precision, even when they are hidden behind the cover.
Since the US decided to provide HIMARS systems to Ukraine, the Ukrainian Army has been wreaking havoc on Russian forces. It made a difference in this stage of the war by destroying Russian supplies in several cities like Lyman.
Now, the Ukrainian government has turned to NATO for help. Ukraine is even asking to join NATO to stop Russia from advancing further. In the meantime, it will have to settle with receiving artillery and resisting Russian attacks.
Zuzana-2 specifications
BREAKING:
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 2, 2022
German journalist @JulianRoepcke from @BILD reports that Denmark, Germany & Norway have agreed to finance the production of 16 Zuzana-2 self-propelled howitzers in Slovakia.
The powerful artillery pieces will start arriving to Ukraine next summer.
🇩🇰🇳🇴🇩🇪🇸🇰🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/QKVg1x5sHQ
- Origin: Slovakia
- Service: Since 1998
- Mass: 28.5 tons
- Length: 12.9 meters (42 feet 7 inches)
- Width: 3.0 meters (9 feet 10 inches)
- Height: 3.3 meters (10 feet 10 inches)
- Caliber: 155 millimeters (6.10 inches)
- Maximum range: 39.6 kilometers (25 miles)
- Ammunition carried: 40 projectiles
- Rate of fire: 6 rpm
Zuzana-2 won’t turn the tide of the war… But it will certainly help in the areas where HIMARS doesn’t reach
This powerful artillery unit will surely help Ukraine protect a large section of its long border with Russia – and now that Russia has annexed some regions of Ukraine to its territory, the fighting is likely to be even closer.
Feature image credit: Slovak Ground Forces Zuzana-2 by Jacob Bradford. Public Domain.
