At the end of June, the Ukraine will receive the first self-propelled howitzers from Germany. A little later, the deployment at the front follows, where problems apparently arise. The Bundeswehr assumes that the Ukrainian troops are firing too intensely at the Russian enemy.
Only a month after the delivery of German self-propelled howitzers to the Ukraine, the artillery pieces are already showing clear signs of wear, according to a press report. In the middle of the week, the government in Kyiv informed the Ministry of Defense in Berlin that some of the seven self-propelled howitzers 2000 delivered at the end of June had displayed error messages after intensive shelling of Russian positions, reports the "Spiegel". Several howitzers are therefore in need of repair.
The Bundeswehr assumes that the problems are related to the high rate of fire with which the Ukrainian armed forces use the guns, the report says. The loading mechanism of the howitzer is put under enormous stress as a result. In Germany, 100 shells per day would be considered high-intensity use, but the Ukrainians apparently fired far more shells.
In addition, the soldiers at the front initially tried to fire special ammunition at too great a distance, reports the "Spiegel" further. The Bundeswehr therefore agreed to quickly send further spare parts packages to the Ukraine to solve the problems. At the same time, the federal government is negotiating with the armaments industry about setting up a repair center in Poland. Necessary repairs to delivered material could be carried out more quickly there.
According to "Spiegel", new problems have also arisen with the replenishment of ammunition for the "Gepard" anti-aircraft tank, of which the first five systems were recently delivered to Ukraine. During test shooting in Germany, it turned out that the firing system of the "Gepard" did not recognize the ammunition from a Norwegian manufacturer. Now the projectiles have to be improved. The modified ammunition should be tested again in August.
