Most Panzerhaubitze howitzers in Ukraine are broken and cannot be repaired due to a shortage of spare parts – Bild

A significant number of Ukraine’s Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzers are broken and cannot be repaired due to a shortage of spare parts.

This was reported by Bild.

“It is an excellent system, but wear and tear is very high,” said the commander of the artillery unit.

One of the primary needs is the replacement of the barrels. This issue had already surfaced two years ago, in the summer of 2022, but remains unresolved to this day. Rheinmetall announced a large order for the production of a three-digit number of units in May of this year, but manufacturing takes several months due to the labor-intensive process of hardening the special barrels.

Other parts also need replacing over time, but their procurement is complicated by bureaucracy.

“It is absurd that more weapons systems are currently out of service due to a lack of spare parts than because of enemy fire,” said Markus Faber, Chairman of the Bundestag Defense Committee.

Earlier, Bild reported that the delivery of weapons from Germany to the Ukrainian Armed Forces was at risk of being disrupted due to the German government’s decision not to allocate additional funds for aid to Ukraine.