The Ministry of Defense of Germany managed not to effectively order spare parts for Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH 2000) self-propelled artillery systems in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Der Spiegel reports. The problem was the planning of an order for additional components used for regular maintenance of artillery systems.
According to the media outlet, the active usage of PzH 2000 has led to the situation that most of the Ukrainian-owned systems need repair, and in September Lithuania stepped up and agreed to provide the service.
Read more: Lithuania Has Repaired PzH 2000 Howitzer and Returning Them to Service of Ukraine’s Armed Forces
Thus Ukraine sent its PzH 2000 to Lithuania and on October 14, the officials announced that the howitzers are going back, repaired. However, according to Der Spiegel, the process didn’t go off without a hitch: due to the lack of crucial spare components, one of the howitzers was dismantled and left in Lithuania for a while.
As noted by the reporters, this outcome was quite expected, since at the end of summer this year, the Bundeswehr’s procurement department was trying to explain the necessity to buy sets of spare parts for PzH 2000 and MARS II rocket systems – though the plea wasn’t heard.
As a result, the lack of spare parts "paralyzed" the repair center in Slovakia as well which is being established by Germany with plans to start repairing equipment by mid-December already.
Read more: Ukrainian Defense Industry Will Cooperate with Six NATO Countries to Produce Heavy Weapons
