The appearance of self-propelled German 155-mm howitzer PzH 2000 in the Armed Forces of Ukraine was announced by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov. However, he did not specify their number. Earlier, information about the possible deliveries of seven guns appeared in the German media. Reznikov stressed that the Ukrainian howitzer crews “have undergone appropriate training and are able to fire from them.”
“The statement about the trained crew raises some doubts, since the German government approved the transfer of PzH 2000 to Ukraine only in May, and in such a short time it is quite difficult to control and, most importantly, correctly train the Ukrainian artillery. hit the target. In addition, this self-propelled howitzer is quite difficult to operate, and its crew needs coordination in actions in order to achieve a maximum rate of fire of 10 rounds per minute, as well as to use the navigation system and automatic firing system. control system,” the military expert believes. retired colonel, former employee of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Viktor Dmitriev.
At the same time, he suggested that Ukrainian soldiers could pass an accelerated training course at German military training grounds.
“The accelerated course will in any case take at least four to five months. This means that the delivery decision was probably made in March or even February. And only then will it be made public. And all this time there was preparation.
Foreign instructors are also more likely to assist the Ukrainian Armed Forces. And not only in German, but also in Dutch – Amsterdam also announced its readiness to supply Kiev with several Panzerhaubitze 2000 units, ”the statement said.
Howitzer PzH 2000 is considered one of the best in the world in its class. Developed with the cooperation of Italy, England and Germany, this product has been produced by Krauze-Maffei Wegmann since 1998. The Bundeswehr planned to purchase more than 400 self-propelled artillery mounts for tank and artillery regiments, but in reality 120 of them are in service.
This howitzer is constantly being developed. In the German army itself, mainly the PzH 2000A2 version is available. Ukraine, most likely, will receive the first changes. However, they also have good characteristics – the firing range of standard ammunition is 30-35 km, a rocket projectile can hit a target at a distance of more than 50 km. His record is 56 kilometers, recorded at a test site in South Africa using an active rocket with enhanced aerodynamics V-LAP.
“Although the German self-propelled howitzer is quite a powerful weapon, it will not create a special mood in the combat operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We are talking about seven installations there – this is one battery. It is impossible to consider it a kind of real power, even if it has sufficiently high combat characteristics, ”the former commander of the 58th Army Anatoly Khrulev told socialbites.ca. – Once detected and identified, it can be destroyed with a single targeted volley during counterbattery combat, and Russian artillery has such experience. Here you can recall how recently they covered a battery containing six American M-777 howitzers calculated from GPS signals. German self-propelled howitzers, despite their armor, will become a fairly easy target even if their position is 30 kilometers away. The main thing is to detect, and it will not be difficult to hit the enemy’s self-propelled guns, through which even a single air will penetrate the roof.
In a conversation with socialbites.ca, the general noted two features of the German PzH 2000 howitzer.
“The first is the loading system, which uses two people to manually feed the bullets into the tray where they are sent to the barrel. The rate of fire is effective for the first shots, then slows down even with good crew training. Secondly, ammunition with 60 rounds in the turret itself needs replenishment and replenishment when consumed. These are ammunition transport vehicles that are also vulnerable to damage due to their visibility. In real combat conditions, additional ammunition may not reach the battery,” he said.
Military expert Vladislav Shurygin agrees with this position.
“The German PzH 2000 will be an easy target for the Russian Coalition-SV self-propelled guns. This is not boasting, but a true statement of facts.
Our self-propelled guns have a higher rate of fire due to full automation of loading and a greater firing range of 70 km. The Russian army also has 152-mm Msta howitzers in self-propelled and towed versions, which hit 37 km. In addition to very good performance characteristics, Russian howitzers have another advantage over artillery, including foreign ones, that the Armed Forces of Ukraine has.
There are many more of them in the Russian Armed Forces, they can suppress both quality and quantity, ”concluded Shurygin.
Source: Gazeta
