The German company Rheinmetall has announced plans to supply weapons and equipment to Ukraine for 2024-2025. The planned supplies include ammunition, tanks, armored personnel carriers, air defense systems and other equipment, the company’s press service reports.
“Rheinmetall is the only defense contractor capable of supplying the Ukrainian military with a large number of new medium and large caliber ammunition, including 20-mm for the Marder infantry fighting vehicle, 40-mm ammunition, as well as 105-mm for the Leopard 1 tank and 120-mm tank ammunition for the Leopard 2,” the statement said.
The company recalled that by the end of 2023, 40,000 out of 300,000 rounds of 35-mm ammunition for the Gepard anti-aircraft tank had also been manufactured and delivered.
“Moreover, Rheinmetall is an important strategic partner of Ukraine in the supply of 155-mm artillery ammunition: several tens of thousands of shells have already been delivered, and tens of thousands more will be delivered in 2024. In December 2023, the German government also placed an order with Rheinmetall for the supply of several tens of thousands of ammunition in 2025,” the statement said.
In addition to Germany, another NATO member state has commissioned Rheinmetall to supply Ukraine with a large quantity of 155 ammunition rounds. The shells will be produced by the Spanish manufacturer Rheinmetall Expal Munitions and are to be delivered in 2025.
In addition, in 2024, it is planned to supply “in the double-digit range” of Marder armored personnel carriers, 24 Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks, as well as 5 armored evacuation vehicles and two Leopard 1 tanks for training. Another 14 Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks will be delivered on behalf of the governments of the Netherlands and Denmark.
Deliveries of Skynex air defense systems are also expected to continue.
In addition, a second rescue station (NATO Role 1 standard) and SurveilSPIRE drone defense systems are planned to be delivered.
“In addition to short-term deliveries of military equipment, in the long term Ukraine will need assistance in rebuilding its defense industry and reorienting production to Western standards. Therefore, in October 2023, Rheinmetall established a joint venture with the Ukrainian state-owned company Ukrainian Defense Industry JSC (formerly Ukroboronprom) in Kyiv – Rheinmetall Ukrainian Defense Industry LLC, the company added.
Currently, maintenance and repair work is already underway on military vehicles; in the second phase, Ukraine will also produce armored vehicles, such as Fuchs/Fox armored personnel carriers, Lynx infantry fighting vehicles and Panther main battle tanks.
“The goal is to turn Ukraine into an effective partner, rebuild its once powerful defense sector and ensure its strategic autonomy,” the statement emphasizes.
air defense systems, LEOPARD TANKS, RHEINMETALL, shells, Skynex
The latest list of U.S. weapons that Ukraine needs to fight the Russian army includes modern air defense systems, F-18 fighters, drones, Apache and Blackhawk helicopters, Reuters reports, citing documents seen by the agency.
Ukrainian Defense Ministry officials presented a “list of weapons to meet the needs of Ukraine’s defense forces” during a closed-door session of a conference in Washington on Wednesday attended by government officials and defense industry executives.
The full list includes weapons that Ukraine already has in stock, such as Abrams tanks and 155mm artillery, as well as some weapons, such as F-16s, drones, and long-range ATACMS missiles, that it has requested in the past.
“But there are a few surprises on the list, including expensive items such as Boeing’s (BA.N) C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft and Lockheed Martin’s (LMT.N) C-130 Super Hercules. The list includes Apache attack helicopters, as well as the Black Hawk helicopter manufactured by Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky division,” the report said.
According to Reuters, the documents show that Ukraine is also requesting F-18 Hornet fighter jets, three types of General Atomics drones, including the MQ-9B Sky Guardian, and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system made by Lockheed.
German authorities intend to send additional air defense systems to Ukraine to protect the country’s grain exports, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing sources.
“They said on condition of anonymity that Berlin will supply an additional IRIS-T air defense system and more than a dozen Gepard systems to provide cover for shipments along Ukraine’s southern coast to Romania,” the agency reports.
These weapons are expected to arrive in Ukraine by the end of the year; Kyiv is to receive more IRIS-Ts as they are produced by Germany.
The sources did not disclose what routes these air defense systems will cover or what other capabilities Berlin may include in the new aid package for Ukraine.
German MP Markus Faber confirmed that Ukraine will receive additional IRIS-T and Gepard systems, as well as ammunition, but did not provide details.
According to Bloomberg, Gepard has a range of 4 km, and IRIS-T – up to 40 km. The air defense systems can be used to protect port infrastructure, the process of loading grain onto ships, and when they are at sea.
Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram has announced the decision to allocate $7.5 billion for assistance to Ukraine over the next five years.
According to the website of the Ukrainian defense ministry on Saturday, the head of the Norwegian defense ministry said this during a meeting on Friday with Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov during his visit to Kiev.
A corresponding program has been submitted to the Norwegian parliament for approval. Gram announced that Norway plans to transfer launchers, fire control points and missiles to NASAMS anti-aircraft missile systems to Ukraine.
Reznikov discussed with Gram further consolidation of efforts in countering armed aggression by the Russian Federation and the implementation of bilateral projects to strengthen the capabilities of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
“The high-tech assistance provided by Norway is already successfully working to protect the civilian population of Ukraine. In particular, in repulsing the last mass rocket attack on critical infrastructure facilities on March 9. Our air defense soldiers successfully used it,” Reznikov noted.
