The German concern Rheinmetall launched a new production line at its plant in Unterluss (Lower Saxony) to solve the problem of the lack of ammunition for Ukrainian Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns.
Bild writes about it.
The article says that due to the shortage, the Ukrainian military usually fires only five salvos from the Gepard, although their guns can fire up to 20 shells in one turn. In Germany itself, there is a shortage of shells for Gepard because they were produced in the 1980s. Engineers had to modify the existing 35-mm ammunition intended for the airborne weapons of the BMP in order to use them in anti-aircraft guns.
Now Rheinmetall must supply Ukraine with 300,000 new shells for the Gepard — 40,000 of them this year.
- Up to 37 Gepard units were transferred to Ukraine during the full-scale invasion. The Armed Forces use them against drones and aircraft.
- In June of this year, it was reported that Germany, in cooperation with the United States, intends to transfer 45 Gepards to Ukraine by the end of the year.