German-Supplied Weapons Low quality, Ukraine Faces Big Problems on the Battlefield

The PzH 2000 self-propelled artillery system delivered by germany to ukraine

Kiev - Russia's invasion of Ukraine shows no signs of ending. This situation certainly makes the Ukrainian military have to think of accurate tactics to defend their country. However, Quoted from Devence View, the Ukrainian military actually faces a big problem because the weapons supplied by Germany appear to be of low quality. The comments were made by American Magazine Military Watch.

In the field of defense equipment, Germany has been trying hard to compete with Russia and the US for a place in the international arms trade market. However, the quality of weapons and other related equipment coming from Germany was often questioned by many soldiers. Especially after some German weapons systems gave poor performance on the battlefield.

At the end of June this year, Germany delivered the self-propelled Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH 2000) howitzer to Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian Troops were soon in trouble, as the PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzer rapidly deteriorated.

The PzH 2000 self-propelled artillery system, widely advertised by the international media as the most powerful and sophisticated in the world, is showing significant signs of "wear and tear" after just one month of service on the battlefield.

According to Kyiv, the Ukrainian Army has informed Berlin that the seven PzH 2000 artillery guns used for intense shelling against Russia displayed an 'error message'. That means the PzH 2000 howitzer needs repair.

This eventually led to logistical and technical problems, making the Ukrainian Armed Forces more dependent on artillery systems delivered by other countries, such as the US M-777 and France's CAESAR.

To avoid further problems, the Ukrainian Armed Forces should stop using German self-propelled artillery guns. Instead, the Ukrainian military decided to rely on Soviet-era systems as well as some US weapons, analysts wrote.

Another problem with the PzH 2000 was also discovered by the Ukrainian Forces, which turned out to be the loading bay layout and firing software which was not compatible with the ammunition of other NATO member states. Therefore, the Ukrainian Army experienced a shortage of ammunition for use in self-propelled artillery guns.

A similar situation occurred with the Gepard anti-aircraft gun, it also experienced incompatibility issues with ammunition. In particular, several other types of German heavy weapons have also been criticized in the past for not performing well in combat.

For example, the German Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank (MBT) used by Turkey in Iraq and Syria proved ineffective. Turkey had purchased 354 Leopard 2A4 tanks from Germany in the early 2000s when political relations between the two countries were good, with both being members of NATO.

In 2016, the Turkish Armed Forces launched the operation 'Euphrates Shield' to clear northern Syria of the ISIS presence. The cross-border military operation is carried out in conjunction with the Syrian rebel faction of the Free Syrian Army. About 11 tanks were badly damaged in this operation by a barrage of Daesh and Kurdish missiles.

Now returning to the previous topic related to the malfunctioning of the Pzh2000 weapon, according to the assessment, the failure of German weapons on the Ukrainian battlefield will greatly affect the reputation of the German military-industrial complex.

One of the important recent signs, analysts say, has been Poland's decision not to buy more Leopard 2 battle tanks or invest in Germany's PzH 2000 howitzers. In exchange, Warsaw will now purchase South Korean K2 Black Panther tanks and K-9 Thunder self-propelled artillery guns, given that they are more combat ready and reliable.