Germany to send fewer rocket launchers to Ukraine — RT World News
Berlin plans to send three weapon systems to Kyiv instead of four due to ammunition shortage, media say
Germany will supply Ukraine with three multiple rocket launcher systems in the coming months, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht confirmed on the sidelines of a NATO meeting on Wednesday evening. That number dropped from four due to a lack of ammunition, according to Business Insider.
The Mars-II rocket systems will come from the stocks of the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, Lambrecht said at a meeting involving representatives from nearly 50 countries. They will be added to the rocket launchers that the United States and the United Kingdom have promised to send to Ukraine.
Washington pledged earlier to provide kyiv with four HIMARS launchers. Pentagon policy chief Colin Kahl revealed earlier this month that Washington would send heavy guided missiles with a range of 70 kilometers. London sends three M270 MLRS launchers to Ukraine.
Business Insider quoted its sources as saying that Germany’s multiple rocket launchers are unable to fire a significant portion of their ammunition due to missing software updates scheduled for the end of this year. Delivery was only made possible by the United States agreeing to provide additional ammunition. The technical setback means that less than half of the Mars-II systems possessed by the Bundeswehr are operational, according to the news site.
Lambrecht did not directly confirm the information, but said deliveries to Ukraine would not only involve rocket launchers, but « hundreds » ammunition and spare parts.
“It is important for me to take advantage of this opportunity to provide [Ukraine] of the Bundeswehr [stocks] but I go to the limit by doing this”, added the minister.
According to Lambrecht, Ukrainian troops will begin training to use the systems in the coming weeks, and the launchers will arrive in Kyiv « late July or early August. »
Mars-II is a modification of the US-made M270 MLRS. The Bundeswehr indicates on its website that the Mars-II launchers are capable of « precisely » hit targets at a distance of up to 84 kilometers, although the weapons manufacturer KMW gives a range of 70 kilometers.
In early June, the German edition of Business Insider reported that Berlin would have to overcome various hurdles before delivering much of the promised weaponry to kyiv.
Germany’s IRIS-T SL air defense systems won’t arrive until the end of the year, according to the site, and a tripartite arms deal with Greece could be scuppered by a potential escalation between Athens and Turkey.
Earlier this week, Mikhail Podolyak, one of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s top advisers, unveiled a weapons wish list, showing that kyiv is seeking 300 multiple-launch rocket systems along with hundreds of other weapons heavy.
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