The Ukrainian military has been handed the 18 Ukrainian-made Bohdana self-propelled howitzers financed by Denmark, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced.
Mountable on a number of different truck chassis setups, the Bohdana is the first Ukrainian-made artillery piece to be manufactured in the 155mm NATO-standard caliber.
Poulsen made his remarks on Sept. 14 during the 20th annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) meeting in Kyiv, according to the news outlet RBC-Ukraine.
The minister added that producing weapons domestically in Ukraine is cheaper and more efficient than in the West, and called on other European countries to do the same.
Kyiv has sought to convince allied countries to donate arms to Ukraine's military via direct purchases from Ukrainian companies, as Kyiv's defense budget does not match the capacities of domestic weapons production.
A self-propelled howitzer can drive into position, fire off multiple rounds in under a minute, and be out of range of counterfire before the enemy has had time to organize, giving it a speed advantage over artillery units that are towed into place.
In development for years before the outset of the full-scale invasion, the Bohdana was first used in combat in summer 2022, firing upon Russian positions on Snake Island in the Black Sea.
The order for the 18 Bohdana artillery units was placed in July of this year.
In July, the Strategic Industries Ministry said that foreign partners had so far pledged to invest around $675 million in the Ukrainian defense industry to arm Kyiv's forces.
Chris York
(Updated: )
