Tanzania, Nov. 19 -- German Panzerhaubitze 2000 artillery guns are failing to withstand the rigors of combat in Ukraine, and Berlin hasn't sourced enough spare parts to keep the cannons working, Der Spiegel has reported.

Germany has sent Ukraine 14 of its state-of-the-art Panzerhaubitze (PzH) 2000 self-propelled howitzers, but problems emerged the moment they hit the battlefield.

The guns were suffering from "wear and tear" and displaying error messages back in July, and six were recently sent to Lithuania for repair, the German newspaper reported on Friday.

Of these, only five will be heading back to the battlefield. Neither the German military nor its arms industry could provide the necessary spare parts to fix all the guns, the repo...