"Bogdan" with Polish roots: what difficulties can Ukraine face in the production of a new self-propelled gun for the APU

The Ukrainian army received a new self-propelled howitzer with the conventional name "Bogdan". This August 10, said Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov.

According to the politician, important characteristics of the new artillery installation - high mobility, accuracy, range, as well as high fire speed. Turchynov noted that the howitzer can use special ammunition to hit the target at a distance of up to 60 km, and also has a "NATO 155-millimeter caliber".

"Weapons of such caliber were absent in our APU, it was not in the Soviet Army, it is not in the modern Russian army," he added, stressing that the weapon received the maiden name "Bogdan." "And I advise the enemies of Ukraine to remember it well."

"Bogdana" is waiting for its parade

Earlier, Ukrainian military expert Sergei Zgurets published photos of the new artillery system in the social network Facebook. They show that the howitzer is placed on the basis of the truck KrAZ. According to Ukrainian media, the public will be shown the "Bogdan" on the parade, which is being prepared in Kiev on the occasion of the Independence Day of Ukraine on August 24. Some additional TTX SAU was brought on its page in Facebook by presidential adviser Petro Poroshenko Yuri Biryukov.

• The Ukrainian Oplot tank.
• © Anatolii Stepanov / ZUMAPRESS.com

"Well, you'll think, the SAU on the wheelbase. Well, you think, the automatic loading on six shots. Well, think, management, guidance, use - all through the console (of course, with the ability to work on mechanical drives). Well, six shots per minute, "he wrote.

According to Assistant Poroshenko, the range of the shot with a high-explosive fragmentation projectile from the new cannon will be more than 40 km.

Ukrainian media reported the beginning of the development of "Bogdany" as early as 2014. Then the detailed characteristics of the gun was not given, it was reported only that the variant of its placement was considered both on the wheel and on the caterpillar track.

At the moment, a number of Ukrainian media published information that the gun of the new self-propelled gun is "absolutely similar" to the Polish howitzer AHS Krab. This installation was created by Huta Stalowa Wola from Poland. Its caliber is 155 mm, it is placed on the crawler chassis K9 Thunder of South Korean production.

Ukrainian military expert and publicist Mikhail Zhirokhov in a conversation with BBC News Ukraine and did say that "Bogdana" is a prototype howitzer, which was supposed to be created from the Krab tower and the base of the Ukrainian tank T-84U "Oplot". As stated in the publication, last fall ACS Krab was demonstrated at an exhibition of weapons in Kiev. And already then they said that the Poles are negotiating to sell their AFM gun, which should replace the ACA "Akatsiya" of Soviet production.

"There were internal agreements at the exhibition. No wonder the Poles brought Krab and back, by the way, they did not take us away, "Zhirokhov told Ukrainian journalists.

According to him, the whole complex of Polish automatic control systems is rather expensive for the Ukrainian defense budget. The cost of one system can exceed $ 1 million, so it was decided to purchase a Polish howitzer, and the chassis for it to do in Ukraine.

After a while, the fact of negotiations with the Polish side about the supplies of the Ukrainian army of Krab guns was confirmed by the commander of the AFU rocket forces and artillery, Major-General Vyacheslav Gorbilyov: "We have been watching the dynamic development of the Polish 155 mm Krab ... we Krab as the best option for replacing Soviet-style self-propelled guns, despite the high cost of such a platform. "

Be that as it may, in the photos posted on the web, it is clear that the base for the self-propelled gun is a Ukrainian-made wheel.

"After several shots fall apart"

Andrei Frolov, editor-in-chief of the magazine "Export of Arms", noted in a conversation with RT that it seems logical for him to buy a cannon from Poland.

"The fact is that Ukraine has never produced its artillery systems. And after the resource of "Acacia" self-propelled guns of 152 mm caliber, which Ukraine got from the USSR, was almost exhausted, it became clear that they would buy imported samples. Since the Ukrainian state sees itself in NATO, it is not surprising that they decided to find a 155-mm cannon, "the expert says.

He also recalled that Kiev and Warsaw have a rich experience of cooperation in the defense sphere.

• Polish self-propelled howitzer AHS Krab.
• © Sean Gallup / Getty Images

"The Poles offer them products much cheaper than weapons from other countries - Germany or the United States. And then the Ukrainians could not afford to buy the whole complex Krab - we had to limit ourselves to acquiring technologies for the gun, "Frolov said.

According to the expert, "Bogdan" is not an effective weapon - in many respects because the wheelbase will not be able to ensure the reliable functioning of the self-propelled gun.

"I think it's just a kind of layout that will not go into the series. The fact is that the chassis of the truck KrAZ is not suitable for heavy howitzers. After several shots, it crumbles. Not only did we initially consider the base of the Oplot tank, which is much heavier than the car, "the expert said.

He recalled that there are also difficulties with this chassis.

"In the series these tanks did not go. In fact, now this machine is not produced, with difficulty, Ukraine was able to put in its army only ten "Bullets". And in order to put on their base is not a tank turret, but a Polish howitzer, you have to redesign and redesign a lot. In today's state, Ukrainian industry can not afford such a thing, "Frolov stressed.

The president of the Center for System Analysis and Forecasting Rostislav Ishchenko, in turn, explained that the main problem of the Ukrainian defense industry is not copying foreign models, but that the country's industry can not produce them serially.

"There is nothing unusual in the copying itself. I will remind you that China copied a lot of samples of Soviet equipment and weapons, and then on their basis began to create their own designs. Moreover, Ukraine has never produced artillery systems, the caliber of which exceeds 37 mm, "the expert said.

• Repair of old Soviet tanks at the Lviv Armored Factory.
• RIA News

According to him, the problem of Ukrainian gunsmiths is that they do not have enough personnel and equipment to launch new products in the series.

"All that Ukraine can afford now is to create piece samples, show them at parades or exhibitions, and then forget about them. An example is the contract with Thailand for the delivery of the Oplot tanks. The contract was designed for 49 units. Kiev violated the terms of execution of the contract twice and delivered cars by 2017, and not by 2015, as originally planned. And this task demanded a colossal strain of Ukrainian defense forces, "the expert recalled.

According to Ishchenko, the main problem of the defense industry of the Ukrainian state was personnel shortage.

"According to the authorities, 10 million people left the country in recent years to work. The first to decline were highly skilled workers, who were many in the defense industry. Ukrainian engineers and workers were gladly taken to Russian enterprises. Then they received Russian citizenship, and Ukraine lost these shots forever. And now, even if officials want to start mass production of the same Bogdan, there is nobody to do it. It will take a lot of time to train new people, so that from yesterday's graduates of technical schools and universities, specialists will turn out. And after that they will also go abroad. So I strongly doubt that in the matter of creating a new automatic control system, Ukraine will move beyond pre-series copies, "Ishchenko stressed.