Ukraine's Armed Forces destroy invading Russian forces with best-in-class self-propelled guns: how does German PzH 2000 impress on the battlefield?

The PzH 2000 self-propelled gun is the perfect work of German gunsmiths

The Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled artillery installation was developed by the German companies Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall - work on this model began in 1986, and the contract for the supply of the PzH 2000 self-propelled guns to the German army was concluded in 1996. Currently, this artillery installation is rightfully considered one of the best in the world, combining high mobility, range and rate of fire, as well as accuracy.

Let's start with the running characteristics of this machine - with an MTU 881 Ka-500 engine with a capacity of 1000 hp, the PzH 2000 can reach a speed of 67 km/h on the highway and 45 km/h cross-country. Range - 420 km. The PzH 2000 self-propelled gun is capable of overcoming an elevation angle of 45 degrees and obstacles up to 1 meter high. In addition, this self-propelled gun has excellent cross-country ability - the 56-ton machine can overcome all terrains due to its crawler track. 

One of the most important advantages of this 155-mm self-propelled gun is its range. Even with a "standard" DM121 Boattail projectile, this self-propelled gun can fire at a distance of 30 to 36 km, while a "counter-battery" ERFB with improved ballistics will reach the enemy at a distance of 40 to 47 km. The PzH 2000 gun mount also holds the world record for the range of a shot from a barrel with a length of 52 calibers - in 2019, this self-propelled gun managed to fire a shot at a range of 67 km.

After all, the PzH 2000 can boast of a high rate of fire - this artillery installation is able to "treat" the enemy with 10-12 shots per minute. In addition, it has the option of firing "in a row", when the first three shells are fired in nine seconds. At the same time, the high accuracy of the PzH 2000 is ensured by a modern digital fire control system with ballistic radar. By the way, it also allows the self-propelled gun to fire MRSI - Multiple Round Simultaneous Impact, when the self-propelled gun fires several projectiles in a row (in this case, 5 or less), which fly along different trajectories, but hit the target at the same time.

Self-propelled guns PzH 2000: "double surprises" for the Russian army

The Ukrainian Armed Forces have been using the PzH 2000 self-propelled guns for more than a month - the Ukrainian military received the first gun mounts at the end of June this year. At the end of July, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had at least 15 PzH 2000 units in their assets - 10 of them were transferred to Ukraine by Germany, and another five by the Netherlands. In general, the allies agreed to supply Ukraine with 18 of these self-propelled guns - for a full-fledged artillery division.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that at the end of July, the Federal Government of Germany agreed to immediately sell 100 PzH 2000 self-propelled guns to Ukraine under a contract worth EUR 1.7 billion. 

At the same time, in the context of the supply of modern PzH 2000 artillery installations to Ukraine, it is worth mentioning that the Armed Forces of Ukraine also received a batch of the latest projectiles from Germany - in particular, we are talking about such artillery ammunition as the SMArt 155, which allows one shot to hit two targets at once.

For example, in the video above, it is clearly visible how, along with the projectile exploding in the air above the Pantsir anti-tank missile defense system, a second munition, which probably hit the target behind a tree, hits almost simultaneously.

Finally, it is worth adding the following - the Armed Forces of Ukraine are so actively using the PzH 2000 on the battlefield that Germany will open a service center for these self-propelled guns in Poland for Ukraine. This is due to the fact that, at the rate of use of shells per self-propelled gun of 100 units per day, the Ukrainian Armed Forces use these artillery installations almost 24/7. Secondly, they hit the enemy with these self-propelled guns mainly at the maximum range, which also puts a serious load on the system. And while the Germans are preparing to deploy the repair of these self-propelled guns in Poland, the Bundeswehr has provided the Ukrainian Armed Forces with all the necessary spare parts to solve the current problems.