According to journalists, Lithuanian gunners willingly shared their experiences with Ukrainian military technicians, as a common enemy motivated them to work together.
On 23 December, a group of 18 Ukrainian military mechanics left Lithuania after successfully completing training to repair the German Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled guns. This was reported by the BNS agency.
“This is the first group in Lithuania to learn how to repair these howitzers. The goal is to teach soldiers how to identify malfunctions and fix them in real time on the battlefield. If I have the opportunity and tools to repair on the spot, Major Žilvinas Cershkus, chief of staff of the artillery battalion of the Lithuanian army, ” Then I save time resources, I can support the maneuver on time and on site, instead of waiting a month or two for the return of the repaired equipment from abroad,” he said.
Ukrainian army technicians spent two weeks in Lithuania studying the instructions and learning about howitzer engine and chassis maintenance. A large number of Ukrainians who completed the course in Lithuania were already trained in Germany, so they specialized in chassis or turret maintenance while studying in Lithuania. At the same time, our four military technicians learned to repair howitzers for the first time.
Major Chershkus said: “They acquired more theoretical knowledge elsewhere, and we told them what kind of malfunctions there are that are not described in the textbooks, from the practice of real equipment operation. The Ukrainians also shared information from the front about the problematic parts of howitzers.” .
It is worth noting that in June Germany delivered a dozen PzH 2000s to Ukraine, but due to the excessive use of howitzers, the weapons wear out quickly. It is transported to NATO countries, including Lithuania, for repair – six howitzers have been repaired here so far.
The German publication Der Spiegel reported that in November the Ukrainian Armed Forces fired about 300 rounds a day with a single gun. Ukrainian soldiers in Rukla were trained in howitzer maintenance rather than repairing damaged units.
According to the Lithuanian army, it was the lack of maintenance and the use of heavy artillery that in some cases led to the failure of howitzers in Ukraine. They added that howitzers, which are usually done annually in combat conditions, need to be serviced much more frequently, sometimes even weekly.
Major Chershkus noted that the Lithuanian gunners willingly agreed to help their Ukrainian colleagues.
“If the Ukrainians need to train longer, the soldiers are determined to work with them even after hours. A common enemy motivates,” Chershkus added.
Recall, on December 22, the German Minister of Defense Christine Lambrecht said that only a third of the Pzh 2000 is in service in the armed forces, the program to replace the Marder BMP with Puma is in jeopardy.
Also on November 21, Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said that the Ukrainian army would not take delivery of NASAMS air defense systems due to the incident in Poland. Instead, they will issue a batch of ammunition for the PzH 2000 self-propelled guns.
Source: Focus
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