Breaking news
Germany will deliver PzH 2000 155mm howitzer and Boxer 8x8 armoured vehicle to Lithuania.
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Defence & Security News - Germany / Lithuania
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| Germany will deliver PzH 2000 155mm howitzer and Boxer 8x8 armoured vehicle to Lithuania. | |||
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Germany will deliver PzH 2000 155mm tracked self-propelled howitzer and Boxer 8x8 armoured personnel carrier to Lithuania to boost its defense power to response to the new Russian threat in Ukraine. During a meeting in Vilnius, April 15, 2015, the German Federal Minister of Defence Dr Ursula von der Leyen and the Lithuanian Minister of Defense discussed the possibility for Lithuania to buy Panzerhaubitze PzH 2000 self-propelled artillery systems and Germany has given a positive answer.
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 Lithuanian Minister of National Defence Juozas Olekas (R) during a meeting with German Minister of Defence Dr Ursula von der Leyen (L) in Vilnius, April 15, 2015. |
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"It is possible to give those 12 howitzer tanks to Lithuania," German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen told journalists in Vilnius.
"We are interested in moving fast," Lithuanian army colonel Romualdas Petkevicius in charge of weapon procurement told AFP, adding he hoped the hardware would arrive next year. With 20 to 30% increase in Lituanian defense budget the idea seems doable as Lithuania already seems to have received a very good proposal from Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. “Ensuring security and defence in the region is not only a concern of NATO allies, but primarily of Lithuania itself. Accordingly, Lithuania began consistently increasing defence financing over the several past years, it is expected to reach 1.46 pct. of GDP next year,” J. Olekas. According to the Minister of National Defence, one of the priority areas of defence capacity building is increasing the strength of the Lithuanian Land Force. “Federal Defence Minister and I discussed the possibility for Lithuania to buy Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH 2000) self-propelled artillery systems from Germany and we have received a positive answer. That allows us to begin concrete negotiations in May that, let’s hope, will lead us to acquisition of the so-needed capabilities in the nearest future,” the Lithuanian Minister of National Defence said. Lithuania is also looking into the possibility of acquiring infantry fighting vehicles from a German manufacturer. According to J.Olekas, Lithuania is interested in developing joint acquisition projects with Germany so that our soldiers would not only regularly train together but would also use similar weaponry. |
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 German army PzH 2000 155mm tracked self-propelled howitzer |
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The PzH 2000 is a 155mm self-propelled howiter designed, developped and manufactured by the German Company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) together with Rheinmetall Defence.
The main armament consists of a Rheinmetall 155mm 52 cal. gun with a chromium-plated barrel and semi-automatic lifting breech block with integrated 32-round standard primer magazine. The 30 km range requirement with NATO standard shells and the 40 km requirement with base-bleed shells has been met with the development of a new 155 mm 52 cal barrel. The Pzh 2000 is fitted with a panoramic day/night sight with laser range-finder and a day/night direct fire sight. The PzH 2000 is the only 155 mm 52 cal artillery weapons system to feature a fire control computer with integrated NABK (NATO Artillery Ballistic Kernel) for autonomous computation of firing commands.
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 German-made Boxer 8x8 armoured vehicle personnel carrier |
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The Boxer is a German-Dutch multirole armoured fighting vehicle designed to accomplish a number of operations through the use of installable mission modules. It is produced by the ARTEC GmbH (ARmoured vehicle TEChnology) industrial group, and the programme is being managed by OCCAR (Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation).
The APC variant of the Boxer vehicle is s equipped with a remotely weapon station armed with a 12.7 mm machine or an automatic 40 mm grenade launcher. The weapon station is reconfigurable to suit the specific national requirement and the module for mission specific equipment is replaceable within one hour. The modular design of a multi-layer floor concept and safety cell provides a unique overmatch behaviour that minimises the "catastrophic kill" risk from mine and IED attacks. The underlying protection philosophy of the BOXER provides a multi-hit capability and sufficient residual mobility after attacks. The BOXER is fully operative with the whole crew - even driver and commander - under armour. In order to prevent an impact, the BOXER follows a new generation of stealth design, low acoustic, infrared and radar signatures |
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