The Ukrainian military on Wednesday released new images of the 2C22 “Bohdan” self-propelled howitzer manufactured by the Ukrainian defense industry, showing for the first time that it has been modified to fire Excalibur high-precision munitions.

“Bohdan 155-mm self-propelled howitzer already demonstrates high efficiency in frontline battles. “Bohdana” can fire five shots per minute and is specially equipped with “Excalibur” projectiles, which hit the enemy at a distance of up to 60 kilometers,” said the message of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on the “X” platform, formerly Twitter, along with the video. with a gun

The Ukrainian defense industry began working on this self-propelled howitzer even before the start of a full-scale Russian invasion, and the first tests were carried out as early as 2018. They were presented to the Ukrainian public for the first time on August 24 of the same year. year, when Ukraine celebrates Independence Day with a military parade organized in Kyiv.

In December and January 2022, shortly before President Vladimir Putin launched the war, Ukrainian gunners managed to fire more than 400 rounds in new howitzer tests to a distance of 42 kilometers, exceeding the maximum distance of 40 kilometers in the manufacturer’s specifications.

The howitzers went into mass production in early 2023, and in December the Pravda news site announced that about 30 2С22 “Bohdan” systems had already been delivered to the Ground Forces of Ukraine, then led by General Oleksandr Syrskyi.

According to the same source, the Ukrainian arms industry can produce 6 “Bohdan” howitzers every month.

Excalibur missiles, called “sniper rifles” by a military analyst.

In an interview with the Defense Express website on February 20, the commander of the artillery battery of the Ukrainian army explained the great advantage of these howitzers compared to the Soviet ones, which were previously produced by Ukraine:

“With the old Soviet 2A65 Msta-B howitzer, it usually took two shots just to warm up the barrel and set it up, so only the third [proiectil] to hit the target, this is provided that the old Soviet shells do not miss. But Bohdan needs only the first projectile to heat up the barrel. The second and those following him hit the target.”

But in a Tuesday announcement from Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, Kyiv appears to have announced for the first time that these howitzers were modified to fire Excalibur high-precision projectiles that it received from its NATO partners.

Ukrainian gunners began using this type of projectile as early as September 2022 or even earlier, and analyst Chris Owen explained in his detailed analysis that “[proiectilele] Excalibur is extremely accurate with a circular error probable (CEP) of only 5 meters”, and in testing in the West an error of only 1.6 meters was achieved.

At the time, Owen argued that this capability essentially turned 155mm howitzers into giant “sniper guns” capable of engaging individual targets tens of kilometers away.

The 2С22 “Bohdana” is also the first howitzer developed by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry to fire 155-millimeter projectiles, which is the standard caliber of most heavy weapons in the armed forces of NATO countries.

According to Defense Express estimates, such a howitzer with a crew of 5 soldiers costs 2.5 million dollars.

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