The armaments company Rheinmetall wants to start delivering fresh ammunition for the German Gepard anti-aircraft tank in the coming days. By the end of the year, 40,000 of the grenades should be delivered to Ukraine, said Rheinmetall boss Armin Papperger of “Bild am Sonntag”. The total order volume amounts to 300,000 rounds.
Germany has so far delivered around 40 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine. More tanks are to be brought to Ukraine by the end of the year. Ukraine needs more ammunition to use the tanks. The consumption from the intense battles at the front is high.
According to information from “Bild am Sonntag”, there were problems with the production of the ammunition: the cheetah dates back to the 1980s. Recreating the old ammunition doesn’t work because the earlier tools for it were missing. The engineers then converted existing 35-millimeter ammunition for the on-board weapon of an armored personnel carrier for the cheetah.
Rheinmetall boss Papperger pointed out in the newspaper that the anti-aircraft tank repels air attacks and thus saves lives. “Each drone shot counts for the people of Kiev and other cities who fear new attacks every day,” he said.
