Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1446249
The PzH 2000 design is rooted in the unsuccessful European FH-155 pro- gram (1986), and in the pessimistic analysis of the Soviet artillery capabili- ties - counter-battery fire in particular. This forced the Germans to initiate a national program aimed at the development of a new weapons platform - the main goal was to procure a self-propelled howitzer of maximum firepower and the best possible survivability. The first of the series-manufactured PzH 2000 systems was delivered in 1998. As a result of budgetary cuts implemented due to the end of the Cold War, Germany procured 185, instead of 594 systems as such. The new Pan- zerhaubitze 2000 system has turned out to be the best sph in the world, still being the unquestionable leader. Despite weighing 57,660 kilograms (with extra protection), PzH 2000 is highly mobile, thanks to its 1000 HP MTU 881 Ka-500 engine coupled with the Renk HSWL 284-C gearbox. The turret houses a 155 mm/52 caliber long gun. The implementation of a new gun and new propelling charges (still compliant with the Joint Ballistics Memorandum of Understanding), range of 30 kilometers has been achieved (up to 40 kilometers, if base-bleed projectiles are used). VLAP-Rocket Assis- tance projectiles have a range of 56 kilometers. The howitzer features an autoloader for the projectiles and primers. The propelling charges are loaded manually. The above translates into a stable, realistic rate of fire ranging from 8 to 10 rounds per minute. The platforms carry as many as 60 rounds onboard, and reloading only takes 12 minutes. The automation of the fire control system and the process of develop- ing the firing solutions has been impressive from the very beginning. ADLER artillery computer network, along with the digital MICMOS 32/ MICMOS 2000 fire control system made it possible to get the whole battery ready to lay down fire in 40 seconds, almost immediately af- ter stopping. The basic design assumption was to make it possible for PzH 2000 to complete an engagement in less than 180 seconds, from receiving the data, to the moment when the assets were leaving the firing positions. The rapid execution of tasks and great mobility were not the only protective assets that PzH 2000 had at its disposal. The requirements dating back to the 1980s assumed that protection levels would make the PzH 2000 able to withstand shaped charge/ fragmentation submunitions, thousands of which could be dispersed across vast areas by the Soviet counter-battery rocket artillery as- sets. This means that 20 mm of the base armor of the PzH 2000 how- itzer is covered with a combined, passive-ceramic layer - hedgehog ARTILLERY