What you need to know about the anti-aircraft tank Germany will send to Ukraine

The German government has decided it will deliver tanks to Ukraine. German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht confirmed the news on Tuesday, in a dramatic shift from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s reluctance to supply further weaponry to Ukraine, a stance that received heavy international and domestic criticism.

The German news outlet Welt reported that Germany has approved the delivery of 50 refurbished “Gepard” (cheetah) anti-aircraft tanks from the arms manufacturer KMW.  The tanks were phased out from the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, in 2010, according to the Financial Times.

Lambrecht announced the deliveries of the Gepard tanks during a meeting at the US Ramstein Air Base in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The meeting was attended by her US counterpart Lloyd Austin, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, and representatives from 40 countries, per DW.

The tank is also effective as an anti-aircraft system, engaging targets with two 35 mm guns. It can be used to defend against fighter planes, helicopters, remotely guided missiles, rockets, and also modern drones, KMW said.

According to KMW, “the ballistic projectiles cannot be interfered with by electronic defenses, and their fragmentation clouds reliably destroy the target.”

The tank has a short reaction time against air attacks, KMW added, citing its high mobility, reliable target detection and tracking, and quickly rotating turret.

Insider reported last week that Ukraine’s request for decommissioned Leopard 1 tanks from Germany were unsuccessful partly because of a lack of appropriate ammunition. The supply of ammunition should pose fewer problems for the Gepard tank, however, as KMW sold 16,000 rounds of ammunition to Qatar for the Gepard in 2020, according to the online military magazine Army Recognition. The tanks have also been supplied to the Netherlands, Belgium, and Romania, the manufacturer said.

Lambrecht also said that Germany is training Ukrainian soldiers on certain artillery systems. This comes after the Netherlands announced it would send the Panzerhaubitze 2000 weapon system to Ukraine, according to the FT report.