Ukrainian howitzers to be produced in Poland under joint venture

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

A Polish-Ukrainian joint venture will begin manufacturing the Bohdana howitzer, which was developed by Ukraine and has been battle-tested in its defence against Russian aggression, in Poland.

The move would allow the howitzers, which are made to NATO standards, to be more easily supplied to Poland’s armed forces and those of other countries.

Last week, Ponar Wadowice, a Polish engineering firm specialising in hydraulic systems, announced that it has formed a joint venture with Ukraine’s Kramatorsk Heavy Machine Tool Plant (KZVV), which is the manufacturer of the 2S22 Bohdana howitzer system.

“The company’s objective is the production of 155 mm NATO-standard artillery systems, including the Bohdana self-propelled howitzer and the Bohdana-BG towed howitzer,” wrote Ponar Wadowice. “The project will be carried out based on European production capacities and close industrial cooperation between Poland and Ukraine.”

Ponar Wadowice holds a 51% majority stake in the joint venture, which is called PK MIL and is headquartered in Poland.

The Bohdana was launched in 2022 as part of Ukraine’s efforts to modernise its artillery systems to NATO standards, reports Polish daily Puls Biznesu. It is already the most widely produced 155-mm howitzer in Europe, notes industry news service Defence24.

Among its first combat deployments was the battle for Snake Island in the Black Sea in the early stages of the Russian invasion, when the Bohdana, which was still a prototype at the time, was involved in the shelling that led Russia to withdraw from the island.

Defence24 notes that the Bohdana’s relatively low price of around €3 million and its battle testing during the war in Ukraine make it an attractive option for potenial buyers. Over 600 units have so far been produced and have fired over 800,000 rounds, reports Puls Biznesu.

Manufacturing the howitzers in Poland opens up the possibility of supplying them to the Polish military and to other countries.

“Thanks to optimised production costs, scalability, and the experience of our Ukrainian partners, we can offer a price that will be very competitive compared to similar systems from competitors,” Jacek Zygmunt, an advisor to Ponar Wadowice’s management board, told Puls Biznesu.

Ponar Wadowice says the new joint venture “is a response to the growing demand for proven, reliable, and scalable artillery systems” and will “strengthen the European defence industry and implement the priorities of the ReArm Europe initiative”, an EU strategic defence initiative announced last year.

The firm, which already produces components for Poland’s Krab howitzers, is allocating 100 million zloty (€23.5 million) for a new manufacturing facility in its hometown of Wadowice and tens of millions more zloty to expand its plant in the nearby town of Łaziska Górne.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Ukrainian 1st Special Forces Brigade

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.