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DANA (weapon)

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The Delo Automobilny Nabijene Automatikly (self-propelled auto-loading gun), also known as Samohybná Kanónová Houfnice vzor 77 (ShKH-77) (self-propelled gun howitzer model 77) was designed and built by the former Czechoslovakia as the first wheeled 152 mm self-propelled artillery gun to enter service. It was introduced in the 1970s. It is based on the 8x8 Tatra 815 truck, the best off-road truck at the time. Currently it is in service with the Czech Republic, Libya, Poland, Russia, Georgia and Slovakia. Wheeled vehicles have the advantage of being cheaper to build and easier to maintain with greater strategic mobility. Tyre pressure can be regulated to allow good mobility off-road and there is power-assisted steering on the front four wheels. It lowers 3 hydraulic stabilizers to be lowered into the ground before firing and has a roof mounted crane to assist with ammunition loading. The crew of the DANA consists of the driver (operates the hydraulic stabilizers) and commander sitting in the front cabin, the gunner (aims the gun and opens fire) and loader operator (selects the appropriate amount of powder charges) are on the left side of the turret, the ammo handler (sets the shells' primers) is on the right side turret.

1 Development history
2 Aiming system
3 Ammunition
4 General characteristics
5 Variants
6 Operators
- 6.1 Former Operators
7 References

Development history

The DANA was designed in the 1970s to fill the role of an indirect fire support weapon without buying the Soviet 2S3 Akatsiya self propelled artillery. It is a 152 mm gun mounted on an 8x8 Tatra 815 truck. It was a significant departure from traditional self-propelled guns as it used a wheeled carriage. It was accepted for service in 1981 and by 1994 over 750 units had been built. DANA's unique feature is that its autoloader is able to load a shell and a cartridge in any elevation of the barrel. Although this feature is nowadays considered as standard, Dana was one of the first such artillery systems in the time of its introduction to service.

Aiming system

As there is no gyroscopic or similar system for independent, automated and autonomous gun laying of DANA, the gunner of DANA uses panoramic telescope with horizontal scale to set the appropriate horizontal laying via aiming at directing points. This means there needs to be other device to help gun laying of DANA (in fact, the firing positions of such artillery systems are usually prepared BEFORE the guns are stationed there). After laying the gun in horizontal plane, the gunner uses bubble level to set the desired gun elevation.

Ammunition

Currently, there are three main shell types used by Czech Army: 1) 152 mm OF, which means "high-explosive" with a maximum range of 18km 2) 152 mm OFd, which means "high-explosive long-range" with a maximum range of 20km 3) 152 mm Pp, which means "high-explosive anti-tank" used for direct-fire at armored targets

General characteristics

Length: 10.5 m
Width: 2.8 m
Height: 2.6 m
Weight: 23,000 kg
Performance:
- Maximum Road Speed: 80 km/h
- Range: 600 km
- Rate of Fire: 3 rpm for 30 minutes
- Maximum Gun Range: 18 km
- Fording: 1.4 m
- Vertical Obstacle: 1.5 m
- Trench: 1.4 m
Crew: 4 to 5
Armament:
- Primary: One 152 mm Gun
- Secondary: 12.7 mm MG DŠKM
Elevation: -4° to +70°
Traverse: ±45°
Powerplant: one V-12 air cooled diesel Tatra T930-34 engine delievering 345 horsepower

Variants

152 mm ShKH MODAN

The ShKH MODAN is an upgrade of DANA with longer range, higher accuracy and rate of fire. The upgrade consists of a new powerful on-board control system that enables increase of combat efficiency, simplification of control and reduction of crew from 5 to 4 members.

152 mm ShKH Ondava

The ShKH Ondava is a development step to testing a longer 152 mm barrel (47 calibers), new muzzle brake (2 chamber), new loading mechanism etc..

155 mm ShKH Zuzana

The ShKH Zuzana is mounted with a 155 mm gun to stick to NATO standards. First adopted by the Slovak Army in 1998, the Slovak Army currently possesses 16 such units with plans to adopt more by 2010.

155 mm ShKH Himalaya

The ShKH Himalaya was next step in development of the 155 mm systems in Slovakia. It is tracked variant of ShKH Zuzana with 155 mm gun mounted on a T-72 chassis.