Zuzana 2

Zuzana 2 is a Slovak 155 mm self-propelled gun-howitzer with a 52-calibre gun and automatic loading on a Tatra 8×8 wheeled chassis, developed by Konštrukta-Defence as the successor to the Zuzana vz. 2000. Slovakia ordered 25 in 2018, and Ukraine has received guns both under a commercial contract and under an order paid for by Germany, Denmark and Norway. In 2025 Slovak media reported that production would end in favour of the lighter EVA.

The line begins with the 152 mm DANA self-propelled howitzer, from which the Zuzana vz. 2000 was derived – already with a 155 mm, 45-calibre gun, adopted by the Slovak Army from 1998 (16 vehicles). The Zuzana 2 prototype was built in 2008: a longer 52-calibre gun, a fully traversing turret, a new armoured cab and the more powerful Tatra 817 chassis. A variant of the first Zuzana (M2000G) went to Greece and was later passed to Cyprus (12 vehicles); these are not Zuzana 2.

Slovakia: The Ministry of Defence signed a contract with Konštrukta-Defence for 25 Zuzana 2 howitzers with accessories, a simulator, spare parts and ammunition on 21 December 2018, worth about €172.2 million (according to the central register of contracts). All were due by the end of 2022, but the schedule slipped repeatedly – first because of the pandemic, then because Ukraine was given priority. The first eight guns were formally handed over on 22 July 2021 to the self-propelled artillery battalion in Michalovce. By December 2023 the army had 17, after which it received two more; according to TASR in July 2024, the last six were to be delivered by the end of November 2025 at the latest. Whether that deadline was met has not been publicly confirmed; the contract has further amendments dated November 2025, May 2026 and October 2026. Slovak Zuzana 2s have been deployed with NATO’s multinational brigade in Latvia.

Ukraine: On 1 June 2022 Konštrukta-Defence signed a commercial contract for one battery of eight Zuzana 2s, taken from production for the Slovak Army; the last was handed over in January 2023. In October 2022 Germany, Denmark and Norway ordered and paid for another 16 new guns for Ukraine for about €92 million. The first two were handed over on 1 August 2023 in Dubnica nad Váhom, but deliveries fell behind: according to the German Ministry of Defence, nine of the 16 had been delivered by May 2025, and according to Militarnyi in October 2025 the last four were expected by the end of 2025. The National Guard’s artillery brigade also operates Zuzana 2. According to Oryx, which counts only visually confirmed cases, five Ukrainian Zuzana 2s have been lost – four destroyed and one damaged.

Outlook: In October 2025 Denník N reported, citing several sources, that Konštrukta-Defence would stop producing the Zuzana 2 by 2026 at the latest. The reason given is the experience in Ukraine: most of the crew sit in the turret next to the ammunition and are vulnerable to a hit or a drone strike. The company is turning to the lighter EVA howitzer on a 6×6 chassis. No official end of production has been announced. Export efforts – including Georgian interest in 2021 – have not produced other customers.