Croatia took delivery of its two first PzH 2000 155mm self-propelled howitzers 23107152

Defence & Security News - Croatia
 
Croatia took delivery of its two first PzH 2000 155mm self-propelled howitzers
The Croatian Armed Forces recently took delivery of its two first PzH 2000 155mm self-propelled howitzers, which will be presented on August 4 during a military parade for the anniversary of Operation Storm in Zagreb. Croatia bought 12 former Bundeswehr PzH 2000s from Germany in December 2014.
     
Croatia took delivery of its two first PzH 2000 155mm self propelled howitzers 640 001Croatia's new PzH 2000 155mm self-propelled howitzer 
     
The delivery of PzH 2000 to the Croatian Armed Forces (CAF) is to be done in two tranches of six systems: the first in the second half of 2015 and the second batch in 2016. Germany will prepare the artillery systems for Croatian service prior to their delivery, a process that will include upgrading their communications array and weapon control software.
 

All 12 howitzers should be in full operational condition for 2017, said the Chief of General Staff General Drago Lovric. Croatian Defence Minister Ante Kotromanovic said that Croatia is receiveing "the most powerful artillery weapons, that will significantly raise the level of CAF capabilities".

The price for the 12 howitzers is €12 million, and the remaining €29 million are adjustment costs for use in the Croatian Armed Forces. It includes training of Croatian soldiers, service, equipment, software upgrades, and systems for fire control, etc.

The PzH 2000 is a 155mm self-propelled howiter designed, developped and manufactured by the German Company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) together with Rheinmetall Defence. The main armament consists of a Rheinmetall 155mm 52 cal. gun with a chromium-plated barrel and semi-automatic lifting breech block with integrated 32-round standard primer magazine. The 30 km range requirement with NATO standard shells and the 40 km requirement with base-bleed shells has been met with the development of a new 155 mm 52 cal barrel.