The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has delivered the last refurbished PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzer to the Lithuanian Armed Forces this month. The NSPA PzH 2000 project team has managed the acquisition of a self-propelled howitzer capability to Lithuania. Support provided by NSPA included procurement of ammunition, customization and modernization of M577 and BPz2 support vehicles, implementation of a new fire control system, and integration and acquisition of new sensors and optronics for forward observers and tactical air control parties.
Members of the Air and Land Combat Systems Programme’s and the Lithuanian Armed Forces’ (LAF) PzH 2000 project teams spent January to March 2022 ensuring the smooth transition of the final self-propelled howitzer to Lithuania. The PzH 2000 is a self-propelled 155mm howitzer developed by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann in partnership with Rheinmetall in the 1990’s for Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, and Italy. It is one of the most advanced self-propelled howitzers in the world capable of providing sustained artillery coverage for more than 50km.
The Panzerhaubitze 2000, abbreviated PzH 2000, is a German 155 mm self-propelled howitzer developed by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall for the German Army. The PzH 2000 is one of the most powerful conventional artillery systems deployed in the 2010s. It is capable of a very high rate of fire; in burst mode it can fire three rounds in nine seconds, ten rounds in 56 seconds, and can—depending on barrel heating—fire between 10 and 13 rounds per minute continuously. The PzH 2000 has automatic support for up to 5 rounds of Multiple Rounds Simultaneous Impact (MRSI).
PzH 2000 has also been selected by the armies of Italy, Netherlands, Greece, Lithuania, Hungary, Qatar and Croatia, mostly replacing older systems like the M109 howitzers. In September 2015, Lithuania bought 21 surplus ex-German PzH 2000s, which of 16 were planned to enter service, while two will be used for training and three for spare parts. The first two examples of this platform were delivered in June 2016 for training. Later, in 2017, Lithuania signed a contract with KMW to modernise 18 of its PzH 2000s. In December 2018, the first two of these upgraded platforms were delivered.
