The first two Zuzana Self-Propelled Howitzers will be handed over to Ukraine
The contract involves the acquisition of 16 “Zuzana-2” vehicles, which are being financed by three European countries for Ukraine
Slovakia will officially hand over two Zuzana 2 self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine. They were jointly purchased by three European countries for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as reported by the Slovak publication Dennikn.sk.
The handover ceremony will take place on August 1st at 10:30 in the city of Dubnica nad Vahom. It will be attended by the country’s Prime Minister, Ludovit Odor, and the head of the Ministry of Defense Martin Sklenar.
These will be the first two Zuzana-2 self-propelled howitzers from the total batch of 16 units, which are jointly financed by Denmark, Germany, and Norway. Plans to strengthen Ukraine with these vehicles were reported back in October 2022.
The purchase cost amounts to 92 million euros, and Ukraine is expected to receive the self-propelled howitzers by 2023. It is likely that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned this delivery during his visit to Slovakia in early July 2023. At that time, President of Slovakia Zuzana Čaputová noted that the delivery of these Zuzana 2 self-propelled howitzers is expected to begin very soon.
Slovak self-propelled howitzers in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and joint projects
It is worth mentioning that these Slovak-made self-propelled howitzers are already in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as a contract for the supply of eight units was signed in June 2022. The delivery of these vehicles took place within seven and a half months after the contract was signed: Ukraine received the first four self-propelled howitzers in August 2022, and the last one in mid-January 2023.
In addition, there was an agreement on cooperation between the Ukrainian PJSC “Kramatorsk Heavy Duty Machine Tool Building Plant” and the Slovak company “Konstrukta Defense” regarding the creation of a new self-propelled artillery unit.
This new vehicle is intended to be a combination of Ukrainian 2S22 Bohdana self-propelled howitzer and Slovak-made EVA self-propelled howitzer. A memorandum of cooperation has been signed within the framework of this potential project. Slovakia has been interested in working on this direction since 2020.
