According to information published by the International press agency Bloomberg on April 20, 2002, the Netherlands would have sent PzH 2000 155mm tracked self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine and Germany will provide Ukraine with ammunition and training for these artillery systems.
Citing Bloomberg information, the training and ammunition are for the PzH 2000, 155mm tracked self-propelled howitzers, which the Netherlands is sending to Ukraine, according to a senior government official. The training could be provided in Poland or Germany, but not in Ukraine because of ongoing attacks from Russia.
On April 10, 2022, Army Recognition reported that the German newspaper website “Welt” has published information concerning an offer from the German company Krauss Maffei Wegmann (KMW) to provide 100 PzH 2000 howitzers to Ukraine. Citing the “Welt” information, Ukraine has submitted an offer to the German government to acquire 100 PzH 2000 155mm tracked self-propelled howitzer.
The PzH 2000 is a 155mm self-propelled howitzer jointly developed by the German companies Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall. This howitzer is in service with Italy, Netherlands, Greece, Lithuania, Hungary, Qatar, and Croatia. For all international arms sales, user countries must have permission from the producing country to make a sale. We can therefore assume that Germany gave its authorization to the Netherlands to supply its PzH 2000 howitzers to Ukraine.
According to the Military Balance 2021, the army of the Netherlands has a total of 18 Pzh 2000 which are in active service and 38 more in store.
The PzH 2000 is a 155mm tracked self-propelled howitzer fully designed and developed in Germany by KMW and Rheinmetall. The first production system was completed early in 1998 and, following company trials, was handed over to the German Army in July 1998 and final deliveries were made late in 2002.
The PzH 2000 is based on a tracked armored chassis with a turret mounted at the rear of the hull. The hull and turret of the PzH 2000 are of all-welded steel armor construction which provide protection against the firing of small arms and artillery shell splinters.
The main armament of the PzH 2000 consists of one 155mm L52 gun with a fully automatic shell loading system with an ammunition management system. The gun has a maximum firing range of 30 km with the standard round and up to 40 km with assisted projectiles. It can fire all the standard 155mm NATO ammunition.
The PzH 2000 is powered by an MTU 881 diesel engine developing 1,000 hp coupled to a Renk HSWL automatic transmission with 4 forward and 2 reverse speeds. It can run at a maximum road speed of up to 60 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 420 km.
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