Panzerhaubitze 2000
German 155 mm self-propelled howitzer
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Key Takeaways
- The PzH 2000 has automatic support for up to five rounds of multiple round simultaneous impact.
- Two operators can load 60 shells and propelling charges in less than 12 minutes.
- In November 2019, a PzH 2000 L52 gun fired a shell a distance of almost 67 km (42 mi).
- In May 2024, Rheinmetall announced that it would supply "a three-digit number" of L52 gun barrel systems for the Panzerhaubitze 2000 for "a European customer country".
- German industry was asked for proposals to build a new design with a gun conforming to the JBMOU.
The Panzerhaubitze 2000 (German pronunciation: [ˈpant͡sɐhaʊ̯ˌbɪt͡sə t͡svaɪ̯ˈtaʊ̯zn̩t]), meaning "armoured howitzer 2000" and abbreviated PzH 2000, is a German 155 mm self-propelled howitzer developed by KNDS Deutschland (formerly Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW)) and Rheinmetall in the 1980s and 1990s for the German Army. The PzH 2000 has automatic support for up to five rounds of multiple round simultaneous impact. Replenishment of shells is automated. Two operators can load 60 shells and propelling charges in less than 12 minutes. The PzH 2000 equips the armies of Germany, Italy, Ukraine, Netherlands, Greece, Lithuania, Hungary, Qatar, and Croatia, mostly replacing older systems such as the M109 howitzer.
In November 2019, a PzH 2000 L52 gun fired a shell a distance of almost 67 km (42 mi). Rheinmetall started testing a prototype L52 gun barrel with a new charge for a range of at least 75 km (47 mi) since 2020. In May 2024, Rheinmetall announced that it would supply "a three-digit number" of L52 gun barrel systems for the Panzerhaubitze 2000 for "a European customer country".
Development
In 1986, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany agreed to terminate their existing development of the PzH 155-1 (SP70) programme, which had run into reliability problems and had design defects, notably being mounted on a modified tank chassis. German industry was asked for proposals to build a new design with a gun conforming to the JBMOU. Of the proposed designs, Wegmann's was selected.
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