Image source: topwar.ru
The Ukrainian authorities do not abandon attempts to restore the heavy weapons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, almost knocked out by the Russian army as part of a special operation on demilitarization and denazification. This also applies to artillery. Since the West is no longer able to supply Soviet-style weapons, Kiev is beginning to demand NATO weapons.
According to the German press, or rather Welt, last Saturday Kiev sent a request to Berlin for the supply of self-propelled artillery units from the presence of the German army. According to sources in Kiev, to which the publication refers, the Kiev authorities did not become petty and immediately requested 100 (one hundred) units of the PzH-2000 self-propelled gun (Panzerhaubitze 2000).
In addition to the ACS themselves, the request includes spare parts and training manuals. All this will cost Kiev 1.7 billion. euro. Instead of the howitzers transferred to the APU, the German concern Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) should produce the same number of self-propelled guns for the Bundeswehr. But Kiev will have to wait a long time, the first batch of equipment can be sent to Ukraine no earlier than the second half of 2024, i.e. 30 months after the signing. This is due to the fact that after such a period, the Germans will be able to produce the first new self-propelled guns that will replace the transferred ones.
But so far this is only the wishes of Kiev, no official statements have been received from Berlin.
Well, with regard to information about the likely supply of Slovak self-propelled wheeled howitzers M-2000 Zuzana to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Such data is distributed on the Web, in Ukrainian public it has already been called "the great peremoga". However, not everything is as rosy as they think in Kiev. The thing is that Slovakia has only 16 self-propelled guns in service, delivered back in the late 90s. The Slovaks can transfer them if they are given other similar howitzers, but such a number of self-propelled guns will not make the weather, and they will require time for training. Futile attempts against the background of a special operation.
