Croatian Ministry of Defence to purchase 12 second-hands PzH 2000 155mm self-propelled howitzers

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Defence & Security News - Croatia

 
 
Monday, July 21, 2014 03:43 PM
 
Croatian Ministry of Defence to purchase 12 second-hands PzH 2000 155mm self-propelled howitzers
July 15, 2014, the Croatian Ministry of Defence has received a positive answer for the purchase of 12 second-hands German-made 155mm self-propelled howitzer PzH 2000. Croatia will acquire 18 PzH 2000 self-propelled 155mm howitzers to replace the 122 mm 2S1 Gvozdika in a deal valued at 200 million kuna (20 million EUR).
     

German army PzH 2000 155mm self-propelled howitzer.
     
Croatia originally expected to acquire 18 PzH 2000 self-propelled guns, but, ultimately, it was decided to purchase 12 units. The contract has a total value of 40 million euros (about 54.42 million dollars). This price represents about a third of the cost of the new self-propelled guns, each of which is estimated at 10 million euros (about 13.6 million U.S. dollars). The Ministry of Defence of Croatia stressed that this type of self-propelled guns are modern strategic weapons. Despite the fact that all military equipment is not new, it is in excellent condition.

Production of the 155 mm/52 calibre PzH 2000 self-propelled artillery system for the German Army commenced at the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann facility in Kassel in the second half of 1997.

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 on schedule late in 2002.

The PzH 2000 is armed with a 155mm L52 gun which was developed by Rheinmetall DeTec. The PzH 2000 is equipped with a fully automatic shell loading system with ammunition management system.

The PzH 2000 automatic shell-loading system can handle 60 rounds of 155mm ammunition with a rate of fire of three rounds in under ten seconds and loading of 60 shells by two operators within 12 minutes.