Source: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
Perhaps the most advanced SPH (Self-Propelled Howitzer) in use by Ukrainian artillery units is the German designed and built Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH 2000; Armored Howitzer 2000). This particular PzH 2000 is being operated by the 43rd. Artillery Brigade “Taras Triasylo”. Developed by KNDS Deutschland and Rheinmetall, the PzH 2000 entered service in 1998. Ukraine has been provided, to date, with 28 PzH 2000 of which eight came from Dutch stocks and the remainder from Germany. Crew training commenced in May 2022 with the first deliveries of the PzH 2000 arriving in Ukraine starting in late June 2022. As of March 23, 2025, one PzH 2000 has been destroyed with another damaged.
Power for the 57-ton PzH 2000 comes from a MTU MT881 Ka-500 diesel engine that develops 986 horsepower and this is paired to a Renk manufactured HSWL284C transmission. This provides for a maximum road speed of 41 miles per hour and off-road, terrain depending, up to 28 miles per hour can be achieved. Enough on-board fuel is carried to give the PzH 2000 a maximum cruise range of 260 miles.
Of course, the crown of the PzH 2000 is its 155mm L52 howitzer and the automation and integration that surrounds it. The 4-man turret provides for a full 360 degrees of traverse while the gun mount permits for a maximum of 65 degrees of elevation and 2.5 degrees of depression. Housed within the hull is a magazine holding 60 rounds of ready projectiles and in the turret is a fully automatic ammunition handling system that draws projectiles from the magazine and loads them via a transfer arm and pneumatic flick rammer. In the back of the turret (behind blast doors) are the propellant bag charges, 288 of them, which are handled by the two loaders. The propellant compartment is air-conditioned to keep the bags at optimal temperature. The fuzing for each projectile is automatically set prior to loading into the breech. A trained crew can burst fire 3 rounds in ten seconds, empty half the magazine in five minutes, or fire the entire 60 rounds in ten minutes.
In order to provide pin-point accuracy, the PzH 2000 utilizes a fire control computer (FCC) with a integral ballistics calculator. The FCC is coupled to a navigational system and secure channel communications node which can receive target data from higher echelon units or artillery control systems. Using an electrical gun laying system, the howitzer can be brought to bear on target automatically using coordinates provided from the FCC. It should be noted that gun laying and loading can be manually done if there is some failure in the automatic systems. Also, the gunner or commander can utilize a semi-automatic firing mode if desired. If need be, the PzH 2000 has an optical sight for the gunner to allow him to engage targets in direct fire out to 1.2 miles.
Range for the PzH 2000 depends on the 155mm projectiles being used. The basic German DM121 HE-FRAG (High-Explosive Fragmentation) projectile can be shot to a range of 19 miles while the South African produced M1711 HE-FRAG base bleed projectile can attain a maximum range of 25 miles. Finally, the Rheinmetall M2005 V-LAP (Velocity-enhanced, Long-range Artillery Projectile) is a rocket-assisted projectile (RAP) that can reach out to 34 miles. The PzH 2000 can also fire the U.S. made M982 Excalibur guided munition with the M982A1 being able to strike targets at 31 miles. Finally, the PzH 2000 can also fire the Leonardo (an Italian company) Vulcano GLR (Guided Long Range) projectile out to 43 miles. The FCC and fire control system (FCM) permits the PzH 2000 to conduct Multiple Round Simultaneous Impact (MRSI) fire in which several rounds are fired in a sequence which will have all fired rounds impacting the target at the same time. A “shoot and scoot” fire mission can be done in 1 minute, 40 seconds. This includes 25 seconds to get into action, 1 minute to fire 10 rounds, and 15 seconds to secure the PzH 2000 and move out.
For protection, the PzH 2000 uses welded steel armor. Though the exact thickness is classified, it is said that the hull and turret can resist up to and including some 14.5mm heavy machine-gun ammunition. The turret roof can be fitted with passive add-on armor (seen in the photograph) to provide a measure of protection against drone-dropped munitions and light caliber mortar rounds (60mm for example). Other protective features include internal spall liners, automatic fire extinguishing systems in the crew and engine compartments, NBC (Nuclear Biological Chemical) protective system, and optional smoke grenade launchers (also seen here). The PzH 2000 can also be fitted with a machine-gun for local defense.
Other systems in the PzH 2000 include a laser range finder, day/night optics for the driver and commander, APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) to power systems with the engine off, GPS navigation system, BITE (Built-In Test Equipment) to rapidly assess vehicle status, and a phased array radar in the front upper hull to measure muzzle velocity.
In Ukrainian service, the PzH 2000 quickly showed that it was not capable of withstanding the volume of fire that typifies the Russo-Ukrainian War. According to KNDS/Rheinmetall, 100 rounds every 24 hours is considered the maximum the PzH 2000 can handle. As an example, a LawfareMedia.org article published on April 3, 2024 stated that at a minimum, Ukrainian artillery units need at least 20,000 shells per day, per gun tube, for them to maintain operational capacity. In 2023, Ukrainian artillery fired between 4,000 to 9,000 rounds per day (the Russians tripled or even quadrupled that). Thus, PzH 2000 equipped units often fired well over the 100 projectile limit and this led to breakdowns of the automatic loading system. Since repairs such as this could not be done in Ukraine, it meant shipping the PzH 2000 vehicle(s) to Lithuania and the consequence was the PzH 2000 was out of action for weeks. Another issue was that some Ukrainian artillerymen “hot loaded” projectiles which meant using powder charges over the maximum limit in order to boost range but induced more rapid wear on the gun barrel, breech, and recoil mechanisms.
