And it’s still moving: After heavy criticism from the FDP and the Union, Defense Minister Lambrecht has announced an exact delivery date for the promised Cheetah tanks: Ukraine can expect it in mid-July, she promises her counterpart in Kyiv.

In July, Ukraine will receive the first 15 Gepard anti-aircraft gun tanks from German industry stocks. This is the result of a conversation between Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht and her Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiy Reznikov. The package also includes training support from the Bundeswehr, the provision of almost 60,000 rounds of ammunition and the delivery of a further 15 tanks in the summer.

“I spoke to my Ukrainian colleague Resnikov today, and he once again expressly confirmed that Ukraine would like the fastest possible delivery of Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, including the 59,000 rounds of ammunition available, from Germany,” Lambrecht said after the video link with Resnikov. This particularly emphasized the performance of the system. “I expressly welcome this clear decision. The cheetah is an effective weapon that also has a significant deterrent effect – for example to protect critical infrastructure,” said the SPD politician. “We are now working together to ensure that the first 15 cheetahs will be ready for action from mid-July with fully trained crews.”

After a struggle for the delivery of heavy weapons, the manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann had received the political green light from the federal government to sell the technically refurbished anti-aircraft tanks from former Bundeswehr stocks. Krauss-Maffei Wegmann has a middle two-digit number from the disbanded army air defense of the Bundeswehr – we are talking about a total of 50 pieces. The cheetah can also be used in combat against ground targets.

Germany will also deliver seven Panzerhaubitz 2000 to Ukraine. The training of Ukrainian soldiers on the weapon system is already underway. Resnikov wrote on Twitter that there had been a very productive conversation with Lambrecht. The start of an important new project had been discussed.

The chair of the Bundestag Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, had previously accused the federal government of delaying the delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine for too long. “You wait too long – everything could have been delivered already,” said the FPD politician in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”.

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