What military assets is Germany already supplying to Ukraine?

Oliver Kuehn

Editor in Politics.

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After the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the German government unequivocally declared its solidarity with Kyiv.

Two days after the raid, she decided to send military aid to Kyiv.

In this case, the long-established policy of not delivering weapons to crisis areas was abolished.

On the Internet, the federal government keeps a constantly updated list of the weapons that have been sent to the Ukraine so far, above all the 14 self-propelled howitzers 2000 delivered jointly with the Netherlands, the 30 anti-aircraft tanks of the Gepard type provided by industry and paid for by the federal government, the five MARS II missile launchers and the IRIS-T air defense system.

However, the list does not end there.

Berlin also brought machine guns, mines, anti-tank and rocket launchers, hand grenades and millions of ammunition to Ukraine.

In addition, Germany also supplies other military equipment such as armored recovery vehicles, armored mine clearance vehicles, heavy-duty trains, winter equipment for soldiers and anti-drone devices.

What weapons does Kyiv want?

The supreme commander of the Ukrainian armed forces, Valeriy Zalushniy, summarized Ukraine's most important wishes in an interview last December: "I know that I can beat this enemy, but I also need the means to do so.

I need 300 tanks, 600-700 infantry fighting vehicles and 500 howitzers," he told The Economist magazine.

However, that would not have finished the Ukrainians' wish list.

In principle, Ukraine needs supplies of all weapons and weapon systems.

In addition to the above, special attention is paid to artillery systems with a longer range and anti-aircraft defense.

Why does Ukraine want the Leopard main battle tank?

According to relevant observers, Ukraine currently has almost 1,500 operational battle tanks.

These are old Soviet systems, mainly of the T-64, T-72, and T-80 types, i.e. exactly those that Russia also uses.

Due to their construction, however, these are vulnerable to attacks from the air and can be disabled by the (Iranian) drones used by Russia.

In the current situation at the front, Ukraine is therefore relying on the power of (Western) battle tanks to take action against the Russian positions.

These could provide fire support for the infantry, while the infantry can also protect the tanks.

Kyiv is particularly hoping for the German Leopard 2 tank, as it is used in many armed forces in Europe and could therefore be available in larger numbers.

How does the federal government justify its refusal to supply battle tanks?

The federal government has repeatedly adjusted its position on the delivery of certain systems in recent months.

So the refusal of a delivery of Leopards has become softer and softer in the past few days.

As recently as October, the Chancellery Minister Wolfgang Schmidt (SPD) described the call as “V2 syndrome”.

He meant a belief in miracle weapons, which is currently the leopard for some.

In addition, if a "main battle tank were captured with the German Iron Cross", it would be a template for Russian propaganda.

However, Western battle tanks in the ranks of the Ukrainian army would also carry their national symbols.

In addition, various reasons for the non-fulfillment of the Ukrainian request are given from Berlin.

On the one hand, there is the question of availability.

The Bundeswehr itself has equipment problems and will probably be reluctant to give up its few operational tanks.

However, there are offers from the armaments industry to repair old decommissioned tanks and make them available to Kyiv.

The second argument concerns training on the weapon system.

A Leopard differs so fundamentally from old Soviet tank types that it would take a long time for the Ukrainian soldiers to learn how to use them.

However, this also applies to many other weapon systems that Germany has already supplied to Ukraine.