First German Gepard anti-aircraft guns arrived in Ukraine

Germany began supplying Gepard anti-aircraft self-propelled artillery units (SPAAG) to Ukraine.

European Pravda writes about this citing Oleksii Reznikov, Ukrainian Minister of Defense.

The Minister made this statement on July 25, while on air at the Nationwide telethon.

The Ukrainian military received three self-propelled systems on a tracked chassis.

The Minister also clarified that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already received “tens of thousands” of ammunition for this short-range air defense weapon.

“Today, the first three Gepard officially entered service. We’ve got tens of thousands of cartridges for these anti-aircraft systems transferred to us. We expect 15 Gepards in total in the first batch. Three units already arrived in Ukraine today. They are at the disposal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine right now,” Reznikov said.

Gepard is designed to protect moving and stationary armored convoys and other objects from helicopters and aircraft attacks at low altitudes, day and night in all weather conditions and during intensive electronic enemy countermeasures.

As reported earlier, Germany found a manufacturer of ammunition for Gepard. The manufacturer in Norway said it could produce special 35mm projectiles. The supply of ammunition for the Gepard was previously considered a problem, since less than 60 thousand 35 mm rounds were available.

The German government initially found the ammunition in South America, but its transfer to Ukraine was not approved by Switzerland, the manufacturing country.

Gepard can shoot up to 1,000 rounds per minute. However, in real conditions it shoots at an effective rate adapted to the target.

Earlier, it was reported that a total of 30 Gepard units should be transferred to Ukraine. At least 100 Ukrainian servicemen were trained in Germany to operate these self-propelled anti-aircraft guns.