After more than four weeks, the time had come again. The German government has publicised the latest deliveries of military supplies and other equipment to the Ukrainian Armed Forces on their dedicated website.
In fact, this time the list was much longer than it had been in the recent past, so it was actually very satisfying to read. From important equipment to strengthen the Ukrainian air defence, to an extensive delivery of various types of drones and armoured vehicles, to more than satisfactory quantities of artillery ammunition, everything was included.
Let’s now have a look at the complete list, and afterwards dive into more detail regarding some of the items mentioned below.
- 3 Cheetah SPAAGs
- 6 Hornet XR UAVs
- 20 RQ-35 Heidrun UAVs
- 12 Songbird UAVs
- 20 Sonobot 5 USVs
- 30 Vector UAVs
- 22 Leopard 1A5 MBTs
- 22 FFG MRAPs
- 5 Bv206 ATVs
- 1 Bronco ATTC command vehicles
- 3 bridge-laying tanks Biber
- 8 Mercedes-Benz Zetros tankers (water / fuel)
- 1 Pionierpanzer 2A1 Dachs
- 6 WiSENT 1 MC mine clearing tanks
- 2 border protection vehicles
- 112 vehicles
- 16 ground surveillance radars Ground Observer 12
- 2 TRML-4D air surveillance radars
- 10 MG3
- 61,000 155mm shells
- 1,000,000 rounds of firearm ammunition
- 2 AMPS self-protection systems for helicopters
Large-scale delivery of drones
Drones are usually an integral part of deliveries of military equipment from Germany. What was surprising, however, was how many different drones Germany has delivered to Ukraine in the past four weeks.
The usual 20 Sonobot 5 UAVs which are used by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine to search for unexploded ammunition in waters and 30 Vector UAVs were included, but for the first time there were also 6 Hornet XR UAVs, 20 additional RQ-35 Heidrun UAVs and 12 additional Songbird UAVs.
The 6 Hornet XR UAVs, which had already been deployed in Ukraine before but were now being financed by the German government for Ukraine for the first time, stand out in particular.
According to ES&T, the drones manufactured by Granta Autonomy in Lithuania are some of the smallest surveillance drones that Ukraine has in operation (wingspan of 1.6 m, length of 0.84 m & weight of 2.9 kg) which for example makes them interesting for SOF units which naturally need to have a smaller footprint then regular units.
I also find it interesting that more money is being invested in the procurement of small quantities of Songbird UAVs. Prior to the latest delivery, Germany had bought just seven of them, which now brings the total deliveries to 19. Not a convincing amount.
In my opinion, it would certainly make more sense to save the money for these and the Hornet XR UAVs and buy more Vector UAVs or RQ-35 Heidrun UAVs instead, especially since Ukraine asked Germany for additional drones of this type. In other words, I can’t make sense of the diversification given these small quantities.
First official delivery of Cheetah SPAAGs
For the first time, three Cheetah SPAAGs have now been officially delivered by Germany to support Ukraine in its defence fight against the Russian forces. Germany has purchased a total of 15 of them in Jordan in cooperation with the US, which will deliver another up to 45 of them.
The Dutch version of the Gepard, which differs, for example, in that it has a different radar and largely different control elements, was already pledged last summer.
Officially, the delivery of these important air defence assets has been continually postponed. The Air Command West only confirmed in June 2024 that the Cheetah SPAAGs were now being used against, for example, Russian attacks with loitering munitions.
However, video footage proves that the SPAAGs were already deployed last winter, suggesting that the original announced timeline was at least partially met.
Plenty of armoured vehicles
The numerous armoured vehicles that were part of the deliveries over the past four weeks are also essential for operations on the front line. Of particular note here are the 22 Leopard 1A5 MBTs and 22 FFG MRAPs.
The Leopard 1A5 MBTs, which Germany is supplying to Ukraine mainly in cooperation with Denmark and the Netherlands, have mostly been used in the past only as indirect fire support due to their relatively weak armour.
However, photos and video footage of the 5th Tank Brigade that were recently published could mark a change in the trend if all vehicles are fitted with additional reactive armour on a massive scale, as can be seen in the footage.
22 FFG MRAPs, which are not to be confused with the FFG APCs, have now also been delivered for the first time. In principle, this is still a BATT UMG produced under licence, which has been equipped with additional armour to equip the vehicles with MRAP capabilities.
The ballistic protection should be STANAG 4569 Level 2 and the mine protection STANAG 4569 Level 2 a+b certified, which means that the FFG MRAPs are better armoured than a Fuchs APC without additional armour, for example.
Up to 400 vehicles are planned to be delivered to Ukraine for around €315 million. It remains to be seen when the delivery will be completed, but it can be assumed that around 100 of them will be delivered by the end of the year.
Apart from that, the delivery of additional armoured engineering vehicles, i.e. 3 bridge-laying tanks Biber, 1 Pionierpanzer 2A1 Dachs AEVs and 6 WiSENT 1 MC mine clearing tanks shouldn’t be ignored. The WiSENT 1 MC mine clearing tanks in particular established themselves as an essential part of mine clearance during the Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region.
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