Germany will provide Ukraine with 300 thousand rounds of ammunition for the Gepard SPAAG

By the middle of next year, Germany will transfer 300 thousand rounds of ammunition for the Gepard SPAAG to Ukraine.

Armin Papperger, Chairman of the board of directors of Rheinmetall, announced this in an interview with Bild am Sonntag.

He stressed that the production of the first batch of ammunition should be completed in June or July.

“We will complete the production of the first batch (tranche – ed.) of ammunition in June-July. By the middle of next year, we will deliver 300 thousand rounds of ammunition to Ukraine. This is a lot, therefore let’s hope that the Ukrainian challenge with ammunition for Gepard will be solved,” Armin Papperger answered a journalist’s question on the ammunition supply to Ukraine.

The issue of replenishing the ammunition for Gepard anti-aircraft installations was acutely raised immediately after information about the transfer of this equipment to Ukrainian forces was released.

This was due to the fact that Switzerland, being a manufacturer of ammunition, does not wish to give permission to transfer them to Ukraine.

At the end of November 2022, it was announced that Rheinmetall, after acquiring Spanish ammunition manufacturer Expo Systems SA, planned to set up the production of 35 mm ammunition for Gepard anti-aircraft guns there. The transaction cost was 1.2 billion euros.

After signing the contract, it was emphasized that ammunition production will become one of the priority directions for Rheinmetall in the coming years.

According to Rheinmetall chairman Armin Papperger, Expal could produce between 250,000 and 300,000 artillery shells per year. Rheinmetall itself has a capacity of about 80,000.

In addition, Ukraine is working to supply anti-aircraft installation ammunition from Brazil.

Gepard SPAAG is based on the chassis of the Leopard 1 tank. Two 35mm Oerlikon KDA guns and two radars installed on the tower determine the target at a distance of up to 15 km. The system can hit targets at a distance between 100 meters and 4 km. Its crew consists of only three people: the driver, the commander, and the gunner.

In December 2022, Germany announced that it would transfer 7 more Gepard SPAAGs to Ukraine in addition to 30 units that were previously transferred.