Czech-Slovak Unveils New Version of EVA 155-mm Wheeled Self-Propelled Howitzer

25 Mei 2018

A prototype of the Czech-Slovak 155-mm / 52 EVA self-propelled howitzer in a version with a wheel configuration of 8x8 (photo : BMPD)

At the 7th International Defense Exhibition IDEB-2018, held between May 16 and 18, 2018 in the Slovak capital Bratislava, the KONSTRUKTA Defense Company (actually the artillery KB, part of the Slovak holding company DMD Group), together with the Czech-Slovak Association Czechoslovak Group Yaroslav Strnada (CSG, partly controls the DMD Group) presented a new version of the EVA 155-mm / 52 self-propelled howitzer on the wheeled chassis. The new version of EVA is made on a wheeled chassis of 8x8, unlike the variant on the chassis of the 6x6, which was demonstrated in 2015.

In the new EVA version, the 155 mm / 52 howitzer is mounted on the Tatra T815-7 8 × 8.1R chassis with a wheel arrangement of 8 × 8. The combat mass of the installation is 28 tons, 11.5 meters long, 2.7 meters wide, 3.8 meters high. The machine is equipped with a diesel engine Tatra T3C-928.90 with a capacity of 300 kW and an auxiliary diesel power plant Lombardini 11LD626-3 with a capacity of 30 kW.

A prototype of the Czech-Slovak 155-mm / 52 EVA self-propelled howitzer in a version with a wheel configuration of 8x8 (photo : Miroslav Gyürösi)

The 155-mm / 52 howitzer has a capacity of 23 liters of charging chamber. The artillery part of the EVA is mounted on a turntable (angle of horizontal guidance of 60 degrees per side, maximum elevation angle of 75 degrees) in the rear of the chassis and can be controlled both from an armored crew cabin and with a remote control. The gun is equipped with a fully automated loading system with automatic loading, which contains 12 shells and 12 charges ready for firing. Another 12 shells and 12 charges are placed in a sealed pile. The automatic loader will allow five shots to be fired within one minute, or 12 shots in three minutes. It is possible to shoot in series of four to six projectiles for several different purposes in sequence according to the fire control system. The rate of fire when back-up manual loading is up to 2 rds / min.

A highly automated fire control system includes an autonomous inertial navigation system and a 24-hour Sagem CM3 MR opto-electronic system (including a laser rangefinder and a thermal imager) for direct fire capability. A radar was installed for measuring the initial velocity of the projectile.

The release of the system in the event of receiving orders for it should be carried out on the ZTS - ŠPECIÁL enterprise in Dubnitsa (former leading artillery production of Skoda), which is part of the DMD Group.

(BMPD)