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Ukraine - Panzerhaubitze 2000 155mm Self-Propelled Howitzer

Panzerhaubitze 2000 is the most modern self-propelled howitzer of the Ukrainian military. According to the German Ministry of Defense, Ukraine received 14 Panzerhaubitze 2000 155-mm self-propelled howitzers. By the end of 2022, Germany had delivered 14 of these howitzers so far, the Netherlands five.

At the end of July 2022, KMW had reached an agreement with the Ukraine for the production and delivery of 100 PzH 2000 with a procurement volume of 1.7 billion euros, S&T reported . Although the federal government has approved the start of production, it has not yet approved the export of the howitzers.

According to a KMW spokesman, the approval enabled his company to begin preparations for manufacturing. KMW is prepared to make advance payments, even if they have not yet signed a contract with the Ukraine. Everything is now being done to implement production and delivery as quickly as possible.

The maximum range of fire with a standard projectile is 30 km, and 40 km with rocket-assisted ammunition. Ukraine received DM121 shells with a fire range of 30 km. Germany also provided Ukraine with new Vulcano precision-guided artillery shells that can change trajectory and increase accuracy. several hundred of the projectiles were to be handed over in early 2023. The VULCANO 155, developed by Leonardo and Diehl Defence, is able to guarantee a one-meter point target engagement at distances of up to 70 km.

The turret armor provides protection against small arms and artillery shell debris. The main armament of the PzH 2000 is a 155mm howitzer with a 52-caliber barrel length, installed in a circular rotation turret.

Thanks to its weapon positioning system, the PzH 2000 shoots very precisely and can fire five shots at a target in such a way that the projectiles hit the target at the same time. The sequence of shots begins with the first shot with a high arcuate trajectory, on which the bullet travels for a relatively long time. The subsequent shots are then fired on flatter trajectories in such a way that all projectiles arrive at the target almost simultaneously.

The first examples were delivered to Ukraine in June 2022 after the training of Ukrainian soldiers on them was completed. According to the Bundeswehr, these guns have been "intensively used" since then and were no longer fully operational. According to FDP defense politician Marcus Faber, only five of 15 Panzerhaubitzen 2000 are still combat-ready in the Ukraine. Faber said so in an interview 10 August 2022 with N-TV after his visit to Ukraine. "I found out from the Ministry of Defense that five out of 15 self-propelled howitzers are still operational there," said Faber. This is because the devices supplied by Germany and the Netherlands are "massively used" in Ukraine. In addition, spare parts packages were supplied, "but obviously not always the right thing".

According to the “Wall Street Journal” [Dec. 10, 2022], less than 50 percent of the PzH-2000 self-propelled howitzers delivered are currently on the front lines , as they have to be taken all the way to Lithuania for maintenance or repairs - a long way from the front lines in southern Ukraine.

With a new repair center in the city of Kosice in eastern Slovakia, near Slovakia's border with Ukraine, governments and the armaments industry wanted to ensure the continued use of heavy weapons to defend against the Russian war of aggression. By Decembr 2922 the tank builder Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) organized the repair of large weapons in the region that were worn out or damaged in the fighting in the Ukraine, such as the Panzerhaubitze 2000. The basis is an intergovernmental agreement between Slovakia and the federal government. The repair base ("hub") is located within a barracks area near the town of Michalovce.

German PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers operated against the Russians in the Soledar area in mid-January 2023. They belong to the 43rd Heavy Artillery Brigade named after Hetman Taras Tryasyl. The brigade reported that PzH 2000 of the 2nd self-propelled artillery division was firing at the enemy in the Soledar area.

One of the positions was visited by international journalists who came under counter-battery fire after the operation of the self-propelled howitzers. “After our work, targeted shelling was started in response. In end effect, everything went well: everyone is alive and healthy. The journalists left to show our war to the world, and the soldiers of the 43rd Heavy Artillery Brigade continued working,” the Brigade said.Soldiers shared with the reporters that despite some technical shortcomings, servicemen were satisfied with the PzH 2000. An artilleryman with the call sign “Pravda” stated that their howitzer fired over 1,300 shells in two months.