German mobile artillary being loaded for transport to Ukraine.<\/p>\n
German artillery guns are breaking down a month after they were delivered to Ukraine, Der Spiegel reported on Friday.<\/p>\n
Some of the seven Panzerhaubitze 2000 guns sent to Ukraine at the end of June are showing signs of\u00a0\u201cwear and tear\u201d,\u00a0the German news site\u00a0reported, citing anonymous sources. Some of the hardware is displaying error messages and are in need of repair.<\/p>\n
The German military believes that the problems stem from the sheer number of shells fired on a daily basis by Ukrainian forces, which is damaging the howitzers\u2019 loading mechanism. Discharging 100 rounds per day is considered high-intensity use, the report noted, adding that the Ukrainians are firing\u00a0\u201cfar more\u201d\u00a0than this number.<\/p>\n
Despite apparently overloading the German guns, Kiev\u2019s forces are still firing only a fraction of the shells that the Russian military is sending in return. Ukrainian officials\u00a0stated\u00a0earlier this month that their guns were going through 6,000 shells per day, compared to Russia\u2019s 20,000. That workload is not distributed over an equal number of artillery pieces either, with Russia fielding 15 for every Ukrainian one.<\/p>\n
With ammo stocks running low, Ukraine has also attempted to fire incompatible ammunition from the German howitzers, Der Spiegel reported.<\/p>\n
After learning that its guns couldn\u2019t fire high-precision ammunition, the German military has since sent spare parts to remedy the situation, the report claimed.<\/p>\n
Berlin is also reportedly working to set up a repair center in Poland to get the howitzers back in action.<\/p>\n
The Panzerhaubitze 2000s are not the only foreign weapon to seemingly be failing on the Ukrainian battlefield. Captured Ukrainian troops have\u00a0described\u00a0the Javelin missile launchers \u2013 shoulder-fired units sent by both the UK and the US \u2013 as\u00a0\u201ccompletely useless\u201d\u00a0in urban combat, while soldiers are reportedly encountering battery issues with the NLAW\u00a0\u201cmaking it impossible to use\u201d.<\/p>\n
Germany\u2019s Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, of which five have been given to Ukraine, have encountered compatibility issues with their Norwegian ammunition too, Der Spiegel noted. This mixing and matching of weapons systems from different suppliers has been\u00a0identified\u00a0by British and American analysts as presenting a\u00a0\u201cserious challenge\u201d\u00a0for Kiev.<\/p>\n