Germany will deliver seven self-propelled howitzers to the Ukraine and will train the crews for them in the Idar-Oberstein artillery school over the next few weeks.

This was announced by the Ministry of Defense Christine Lambrecht (SPD) on the sidelines of a visit to the troops in Silač, Slovakia.

The howitzers are among the most modern weapons systems in the Bundeswehr, they can hit targets precisely at a range of up to around 40 kilometers.

The howitzers come from Bundeswehr stocks, but are being maintained.

Therefore, according to Lambrecht, the delivery that has now been promised does not reduce the capabilities of the Bundeswehr.

"This does not weaken the troops in their very own mission," said Lambrecht, who was returning from a trip to the Balkans and visited three squadrons of the Patriot system in Sliač.

Peter Carstens

Political correspondent in Berlin

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According to them, the first artillerymen of the Ukrainian army will soon come to Germany for training.

According to Inspector General Eberhard Zorn, how long the training on the German howitzers lasts depends on how experienced they are with working on howitzers.

The Ukraine mostly has systems of Soviet design from the 1980s.

As for the supply of ammunition, the Ukrainian army gets “initial ammunition” from the scarce stocks of the Bundeswehr.

According to the information, however, howitzer ammunition with a caliber of 155 millimeters is common, including for the “Triple Seven” howitzers that have already been handed out from America.

The United States has allegedly already delivered tens of thousands of artillery shells to Ukraine.

Before Germany, the Netherlands had already announced five of the tracked vehicles, which, adequately armored and equipped with a 155mm cannon, can conduct mobile artillery combat.

It is also important to dodge enemy reconnaissance as quickly as possible after firing.

The self-propelled howitzer, a tracked vehicle based on the Leopard tank, is particularly suitable for this.

According to the Bundeswehr, the howitzer can be used as part of a complex system of different radar and target systems, but also "unbureaucratically and highly dynamically".

In any case, the delivery of the framework infrastructure is not part of the negotiated package.

The training of the personnel for the five howitzers to be supplied by the Netherlands also takes place in Germany, where Dutch artillerymen are usually also trained for the howitzers as part of the German-Dutch partnership.

Both countries also cooperate closely on the Patriot anti-aircraft missiles.

The three squadrons stationed in Slovakia are two German with about 230 Bundeswehr soldiers, the third squadron comes from the Netherlands.

Lambrecht met both her Slovakian counterpart and the Dutch defense minister at the Slovakian air force base on Friday.