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Heavy artillery-type weapons such as howitzers, long perceived as
arms of the past by military experts, have made a huge comeback as
Ukraine seeks to repel a Russian invasion.
The German parliament's budget committee will decide on the howitzer
deal at a session on Wednesday.
The government in Berlin has supplied 14 howitzers to Kyiv, and
originally intended to ask parliament for their replacement in
summer only. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius brought the move
forward after criticism that the backfilling of German military
hardware was going far too slowly.
According to the budget draft, the defence ministry aims to procure
at least 10 howitzers for some 180 million euros from German arms
maker Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), and acquire options for the
purchase of another 18.
The document said the ministry intended to soon trigger options for
the procurement of 12 additional howitzers in order to replace all
the weapons handed over to Ukraine and to also make up for spare
parts supplied to Kyiv.
The Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzer is one of the most powerful
artillery weapons in Bundeswehr (German military) inventories. It
can hit targets at a distance of 30 kilometres (18.6 miles) with
standard ammunition and at a distance of up to 100 kilometres with
advanced types of ammunition.
(Reporting by Holger Hansen, writing by Sabine Siebold, editing by
Rachel More and Mark Heinrich)
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