The German government wants to hand over more 155-mm PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine to help defend it from Russian invasion.

This was reported by Handelsblatt.

Germany is in talks with the Netherlands and another European partner on the transfer of additional artillery to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

A spokesman for the German Defense Ministry told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) about the negotiations on Friday.

Currently, Ukraine has received seven Panzerhaubitze 2000 units from Germany and five from the Netherlands.

According to dpa, Ukraine claims that it would take 18 howitzers to equip a full artillery division of the Armed Forces. That means six more units are needed.

Berlin intends to fulfill the request if partners also join the supply of this armament. Germany could supply two or three more Panzerhaubitze 2000 ACS, dpa reported.

German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht stated that fully prepared crews arrived in Ukraine along with the ACS.

Thus, the Defense Forces of Ukraine were replenished with a full-fledged self-propelled artillery howitzer division armed with one of the most advanced howitzers in the world.

Apart from Germany and the Netherlands, Italy is also a PzH 2000 operator with the largest number of such howitzers. According to open data it has about 70 of these systems. Earlier, Italian media reported that the government considered transferring a certain amount of PzH 2000 to Ukraine.

Panzerhaubitze 2000 is a German self-propelled artillery howitzer with an automatic loading system and a high automation level of all systems. It is developed on the basis of the Leopard-2 tank.

It uses NATO-standard separate-loading rounds. It is equipped with a muzzle brake and an ejector. The gun barrel with a rifled channel has a length of 52 calibers and is equipped with a charging chamber. The vehicle carries 60 artillery shells and 228 propellants on board. The range of firing standard ammunition is 30 km.