RUKLA (dpa-AFX) - In Lithuania, the first mechanics of the Ukrainian army have completed their training in repair and maintenance of the self-propelled howitzer 2000. A group of soldiers completed two weeks of training with the army of the Baltic EU and NATO country, BNS agency reported in a report published Friday from a maintenance center in Rukla. There, Ukrainians learned how to maintain howitzer engines and chassis.
"The goal is to train troops to identify problems and fix them on the battlefield in real time," said Major Zilvinas Cerskus, chief of staff of the Lithuanian Army's artillery battalion stationed in Rukla. To that end, Ukrainian troops were working on four howitzers. According to the report, many of the soldiers had previously undergone training in Germany, followed by specialization in chassis or turret maintenance in Lithuania.
Germany and the Netherlands had handed over a dozen or so self-propelled howitzers 2000 to Ukraine as military aid for the defensive fight against Russia. According to a November report in Der Spiegel, a large number of them are in need of repair due to their intensive use at the front. To date, the howitzers have been transported to neighboring NATO countries - including Lithuania - for repair.
The Lithuanian armed forces have been using the 2000 self-propelled howitzer as a weapon system for several years - and are now sharing their practical knowledge with the Ukrainian army. "We taught them about faults that are not described in the manuals," Cerskus said. Conversely, the Ukrainians shared their information from the front lines about the problematic parts of the howitzers.
As BNS further reported, citing unnamed Lithuanian servicemen, lack of maintenance during heavy use is said to have been the reason for howitzer failures in Ukraine in some cases. According to the report, under wartime conditions, maintenance has to be carried out much more frequently, sometimes even weekly, instead of once a year./awe/DP/mis
