Germany delivers first Cheetah tanks to Ukraine
Ukraine received the first Cheetah-type armored vehicles from Germany (illustration image).
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Ukraine received the first Cheetah armored vehicles from Germany.
This was declared on Monday, July 25 by the Ukrainian Minister of Defense.
Promised last April, three of these anti-aircraft tanks, out of a total of 15, have been delivered.
After several howitzers last June, this is the second time that Berlin has delivered heavy weapons to kyiv.
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Cheetah armored vehicles were developed in the 1960s, in the midst of the Cold War.
Equipped with two anti-aircraft guns, the tank was originally intended to fight helicopters or low-flying aircraft.
Today, the German army no longer has any Cheetah in service.
The machines delivered to Ukraine come from the stocks of the Krauss Maffei Wegmann arms group.
The delay between the announcement made last April by the government and the delivery today can be explained by several reasons: the armored vehicles first had to be overhauled, then the Ukrainian soldiers had to be trained to use them.
► To read also: War in Ukraine: the German industrialist Rheinmetall wants to deliver heavy weapons to kyiv
Awaiting short-range air-to-surface missiles
There was one last problem, that of finding ammunition for a tank that hadn't been used for years.
The German government finally found a Norwegian supplier.
If the Cheetahs are eagerly awaited by kyiv, military experts doubt that a dozen 60-year-old tanks can really strengthen the Ukrainian army.
The latter relies instead on the Iris-T air defense system, promised by Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
But here too, we will have to be patient: the delivery of these modern short-range air-to-ground missiles is not scheduled before next fall.
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