152 mm SpGH DANA

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Dana (Self-Propelled Gun)

The Dana is an armoured self-propelled artillery gun of Czechoslovak origin developed in the 1970s by Konštrukta Trenčín and built by ZTS Dubnica nad Váhom in Slovakia. It was the first self-propelled artillery gun of its calibre to enter service, based on a modified 8×8 Tatra 815 chassis with excellent off-road mobility. The vehicle's design aimed to provide the Czechoslovak People's Army with a self-propelled fire support weapon without having to purchase the Soviet gun 2S3 Akatsiya.

The Dana crew consists of five people: the driver and the head of the room sitting in the cabin, while three gunners are stationed in the turret. The vehicle features a tri-stabilizer hydraulic system that lowers into the ground before firing the main gun, with a roof-mounted crane available to assist with ammunition loading. Additionally, the crew includes a loader operator who selects the appropriate amount of powder charges and a munition handler who sets the shells' primers.

The Dana has manual fire control and automatic reloader capabilities, allowing for reduced crew numbers as low as two in some variants. The vehicle's development was completed in 1976, with production entrusted to ZTS Dubnica nad Váhom. Over 750 units were built by 1994, and the DANA is also exported to several countries.

The Dana is not an autonomous system but requires additional devices to assist in gun laying. Its firing positions are typically prepared before positioning the guns there. The vehicle's design reflects its intended use on battlefields with well-developed infrastructure, such as Central Europe during the Warsaw Treaty era. As a result, the wheeled chassis was chosen over tracked vehicles.

The Dana has been used by several countries, including Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Libya, Poland, and Ukraine. In 2022, it is expected to be used by these nations alongside other modernized variants of the vehicle. The acronym "Dana" stands for Dělo Automobilní Nabíjené Automaticky, which translates to self-propelled gun with automatic charging machine in German.

The Dana's calibre of 152 mm met the standard set by the Warsaw Treaty Organization, but its development aimed to reduce dependence on Soviet arms imports. The vehicle was designed to be fast and maneuverable, making it one of the fastest Panzerha