Ukraine develops new Zetros-based howitzer called Marta

Germany and Ukraine signed agreements that include €750 million ($870 million) for 200 Bohdana self-propelled artillery systems on Zetros chassis, and those systems now have a confirmed name and barrel specification: defense analyst Jeff, reporting from Eurosatory 2026 in Paris on Tuesday, wrote that a representative from Ukrainian Armoured Vehicles [was likely referring to Ukrainian Armor company] confirmed to him that the Zetros-based 2S22 Bohdana will carry an L39-length barrel and be designated “Marta.”

The 200-system Zetros-based Bohdana project was included in Ukraine-Germany defense agreements announced in December 2025, and the Eurosatory disclosure adds the first publicly confirmed technical and naming details for that specific variant.

The 2S22 Bohdana is Ukraine’s domestically developed self-propelled 155mm NATO-standard wheeled artillery system, which has appeared on several chassis including KrAZ, MAZ, and Tatra, with the new German-funded batch planned on Mercedes-Benz Zetros chassis. The system attracted international attention because it represents genuine Ukrainian defense industrial capability at a moment when the world watches closely to see whether Ukraine can sustain and expand domestic production under wartime conditions, and because it has demonstrated combat effectiveness in some of the war’s most intense artillery engagements, including documented use on Snake Island in the Black Sea in 2022.

The Zetros chassis marks another platform option for the Bohdana family and is intended to improve logistics compatibility with German support infrastructure, since the Mercedes-Benz Zetros is a heavy-duty tactical truck widely used by European militaries including the Bundeswehr, with an established spare parts and maintenance ecosystem already integrated into NATO’s supply chains. That compatibility matters considerably for a system whose primary external funder is Germany, because a chassis that German logistics networks already know how to support reduces the sustainment burden for both the Ukrainian operator and the German partner who committed the funding and will have a direct interest in ensuring the systems remain operational over their service lives.

The L39 barrel designation describes a specific technical configuration in which the barrel length is 39 times the 155mm caliber, producing a barrel approximately 6 meters (19.7 feet) long. That figure places the Marta’s barrel in a different class from the L52 barrels found on the most capable Western self-propelled howitzers like the German PzH 2000 and the French Caesar, which produce higher muzzle velocities and longer effective ranges, but it does not necessarily place the Marta below the performance threshold that Ukrainian operational requirements demand, particularly given the emphasis Ukrainian artillerists have placed on rate of fire, mobility, and rapid displacement over raw range in their tactical approach to counter-battery warfare. The precise performance characteristics of the L39 barrel in terms of range and muzzle velocity with specific NATO-standard 155 mm ammunition types have not been disclosed in the available reporting, and the Ukrainian Armoured Vehicles representative’s confirmation as reported by Jeff does not include that level of technical detail.

Ukraine has previously stated that Bohdana production reached approximately 40 units per month, a figure that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky referenced publicly in October 2025, and the Eurosatory confirmation from the Ukrainian Armoured Vehicles representative is consistent with that previously disclosed rate rather than representing a new production milestone. At 40 units per month across the Bohdana family, the pace of production reflects a significant industrial achievement for a country manufacturing complex 155 mm self-propelled systems under active wartime conditions, and it also establishes the timeline context for when Germany’s 200-system order might realistically be completed if the rate holds and production capacity is allocated across the Zetros-based Marta configuration alongside other Bohdana variants serving Ukrainian units.

Ukraine’s ability to develop and produce Bohdana variants while using the system in active combat along a front that stretches hundreds of kilometers is a remarkable industrial achievement that reflects both the investment Ukraine has made in indigenous defense production since 2014 and the wartime pressure that has forced acceleration of capabilities that might otherwise have taken years longer to reach operational maturity. The Zetros-based Marta is evidence that the Bohdana family is evolving toward greater integration with NATO logistics and supply chains, with a German-compatible chassis and a production agreement backed by substantial German funding creating a platform that is simultaneously Ukrainian in design and European in its industrial and support architecture.