Hungarian soldiers train on the PzH2000 in Germany
Hungarian Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky has announced on his social media platform that the first of 24 German PzH2000 self-propelled howitzers has arrived in Hungary. As he put it, the weapons system is “an important tool for rebuilding the armored and artillery force, which was dismantled under the left-wing government”.
“The PzH2000 is one of the most effective artillery pieces of our time, as is shown by the fact that the self-propelled artillery, developed for the German armed forces, is now in service in several European countries. It has remarkable accuracy and rate-of-fire parameters, as well as low maintenance requirements”, the minister added.
The Panzerhaubitze 2000 is a German 155 mm self-propelled howitzer developed by sister companies Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall. Its effective range can be as much as 67 kilometers with rocket assisted projectiles. The Hungarian Defense Ministry has ordered 24 of these in 2018.
The current artillery capabilities of the Hungarian Defence Forces are strongly deficient, they are currently relying on their few remaining Soviet era artillery pieces. The new sate-of-the-art German-made gun will be a major leap in defense capabilities and will supplement the soon-to-be-arriving Leopard II tanks in firepower. The 155mm caliber ammunition is also the standard type of projectiles within NATO forces.
The war in Ukraine has shown the importance of artillery units, a weapons system that the Russian assault is heavily relying on. Ukraine has received significant amounts of artillery pieces from NATO allies, including five PzH2000s the Dutch Armed Forces, with German ammunition included. The government of Olaf Scholz had also promised the transfer of several PzH2000s to Ukraine, these deliveries are yet to materialize.
Featured Image: honvedelem.hu
