The chancellor’s indecision cost the German army dearly, reporters point out. Bundeswehr stocks are limited to 370 Marder infantry fighting vehicles and many vehicles are subject to overhaul before being sent to the front.
The German authorities are carefully examining the issue of transferring Marder combat vehicles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. By the way writes German magazine Der Spiegel.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the transfer of 40 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine. Now politicians, military and pundits wondered where Germany would get more vehicles to send.
The German Ministry of Defense confines itself to statements about sending infantry fighting vehicles from Bundeswehr stocks. According to the publication, about 60 of these vehicles remained in the warehouses of the Rheinmetall arms company.
They can be fixed and the update will take a long time. In the coming months, Rheinmetall will be stocking the warehouses with updated infantry fighting vehicles.
Spiegel sources in the Bundeswehr believe plans to send Marder vehicles to Ukraine’s armed forces are reality. The accelerated training program for the Ukrainian military will last four to eight weeks in Lower Saxony.
Problems with the supply of infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine arose due to the fact that senior officials of the Ministry of Defense were unaware of Berlin’s decision to transfer the equipment following lengthy conversations with the US governments is French.
“The chancellor has fallen into a trap due to indecision. His government has not prepared for the necessary deliveries of Marder infantry fighting vehicles. The Bundeswehr has to empty its already understocked warehouses,” said Henning Otto, MP of the CDU party. a magazine interview
The Bundeswehr currently has around 370 Marder IFVs in service, but many of them need to be overhauled. At the end of November, the operational readiness of armored vehicles was only 62%, according to an internal document of the Ministry of Defense, which Spiegel became aware of.
Recall that Greece agreed to a delay in receiving the German BMP Marder, if Berlin gives priority to Ukraine. The two countries have agreed scheme of “circular exchange” of military equipment even last summer.
USA January 6 announced new $3 billion military aid package for Ukrainewill include 50 M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles with 500 TOW anti-tank missiles.
At the end of January the US military will start training their Ukrainian colleagues use of new military equipment.
