Wednesday05 February 2025
swoboda.in.ua

Denmark, which provided Ukraine with all its Caesar self-propelled howitzers, has also unearthed 2S1 "Gvozdika" artillery for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Denmark, in its support of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' artillery, has not only provided its own Caesar and M109 systems but has also ordered additional French and Slovak self-propelled howitzers for Ukraine. Additionally, they have sourced Ukrainian "Bohdana" systems and, as it turns out, have also found 2S1 "Gvozdika" units elsewhere.
Дания, передавшая Украине все свои САУ Caesar, также нашла для ВСУ 2С1 "Гвоздика".

Denmark has sent not only all 19 of its Caesar self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine, but also M109A3s that were refurbished from storage, and it seems they have also found Soviet 122-mm 2S1 "Gvozdika" for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Notably, this transfer occurred without any prior announcement.

Furthermore, the information came to light only because the Danish government "silently" updated the list of weapons and military equipment provided to Ukraine. While other governments typically provide additional information about the expansion of aid, the Danes did not publicize this at all. It was Danish security analyst Hans Tino Hansen who drew attention to the updated list.

The list itself contains no mention of the number of these self-propelled howitzers or where Denmark acquired them. It is unlikely that their origin can be determined independently, as the 2S1 "Gvozdika" is operated in about 20-30 countries worldwide, with another 10 belonging to former operators.

From the perspective of Defense Express, we note that the timing of the appearance of these self-propelled howitzers in the list can only be established publicly. In particular, the Wayback Machine service shows that the mention of 2S1 "Gvozdika" in the list of the Danish government appeared between November 28 and December 12, 2024.

2С1 Гвозидка

Overall, Denmark, which has very limited capabilities to enhance Ukraine's armament, stands as one of the significant donors of weapons for Ukraine. When it comes to artillery alone, even after transferring the available models, Denmark did not stop and ordered additional Caesar self-propelled howitzers for Ukraine, and in cooperation with Germany and Norway - 16 Slovak Zuzana-2. When the Danes faced production capacity issues in the EU, they began ordering Ukrainian self-propelled howitzers "Bohdana" initiating the "Danish model".

If we consider other types of weapons and military equipment from Denmark for Ukraine, we can start with F-16s, over 140 Leopard 1 tanks, and around fifty M113s. In total, the country has contributed 64.8 billion Danish kroner - 8.7 billion euros to the Fund for Ukraine's military support.