The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) announced it has completed the Italian PzH2000M modification program, providing the Italian Army with an upgrade for crew safety and the ability to operate under severe climate conditions.
The new PzH2000M self-propelled howitzer variant expands the field capabilities, strengthening the systems in deployment scenarios, characterized by high temperatures, through the integration of generator cooling systems and charge compartment cooling systems.
Additionally, the upgrade improves crew safety by introducing a fire extinguishing system in the crew compartment, as well as a live firing box consisting of a selection of tools that allow “in mission” cleaning and maintenance of the shooting mechanisms.
The PzH2000M upgrade was contracted to Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) through an international competitive solicitation supported by the Italian defense ministry’s land systems directorate, “Direzione degli Armamenti Terrestri.”
The Panzerhaubitze 2000, abbreviated as PzH2000 is a self-propelled howitzer produced by the consortia KMW / Rheinmetall initially for the German Army and is in use in another five NATO nations. NSPA provides in-service support to a fleet of nearly 300 systems (through direct or indirect contracts) and assists nations to determine their technical requirements and manages modification, equipment integration and upgrade projects.
