The 155mm covered self-propelled howitzer developed by the German Wigmann company, the PZH2000 self-propelled howitzer, began to equip the German Army in July 1998 and is the world's first 52-caliber officer-propelled howitzer put into active service. The gun has excellent performance and market prospects are very promising, and Greece, the Netherlands, Italy and Sweden have successively ordered. Weapons experts even called the PZH2000 "the self-propelled howitzer of all Europe."
Highlight the advantages
The PZH2000 self-propelled howitzer was converted from the chassis of the famous German "Leopard" I tank, and the power plant used a 1000 hp diesel engine, which had maneuverability beyond other self-propelled guns. In addition, to ensure a high rate of fire, it also installed an automatic loader. The gun's fire control system includes an integrated inertial navigation system, ballistic computer, laser rangefinder, etc., which greatly improves the shooting accuracy and rapid readiness of the gun, and the travel and combat conversion time is only 30 seconds.
"Going to sea" on board
In future wars, naval ships are increasingly responsible for land strikes and shore fire support tasks, and the existing naval guns are obviously insufficient in range and power to perform such tasks, based on this, the German military began to try to "graft" contemporary ground artillery technology to naval guns. In 2002, the frigate "Hamburg" of the German Navy was loaded with a turret of a PZH2000 155-mm self-propelled howitzer and conducted related tests, which indicates that the development prospects of the PZH2000 howitzer will be very broad.
The price is high
PZH2000 self-propelled howitzer is the first self-propelled gun developed by Germany after the war, its performance is the most advanced among the active self-propelled howitzers in various countries, it represents the development direction of artillery digitalization. However, despite its advantages, the PZH2000 self-propelled howitzer is not flawless, it weighs too much, almost the same as the Leopard main battle tank, and is too expensive, costing $4 million per vehicle, equivalent to the price of an advanced third-generation main battle tank.