Ukraine conflict: Rheinmetall on track with Gepard ammunition deliveri…

Rheinmetall is producing 40,000 rounds of 35 mm rounds in 2023 for Gepard SPAAGs that Germany has supplied to Ukraine. (Rheinmetall)

Rheinmetall is on track to deliver 40,000 rounds of 35 mmammunition by the end of 2023 for the Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns (SPAAGs) it has supplied to Ukraine. “Deliveries are being made in accordance with the contract,” a company spokesperson told Janes on 29 August.

During the 14 February Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Rheinmetall would produce 300,000 rounds of Gepard ammunition for Ukraine.

Rheinmetall announced the next day that the German Federal Ministry of Defence had awarded it a low three-digit million euro contract to supply 150,000 rounds each of armour-piercing discarding sabot – tracer (APDS-T) and high-explosive incendiary – tracer (HEI-T) ammunition. The first APDS-T rounds were scheduled to be delivered in mid-2023, with a shift in production from APDS-T to HEI-T planned for mid-2024.

In order to do this, Rheinmetall has created additional medium-calibre ammunition production capacity, which was scheduled to go into operation in mid-2023. The Gepard ammunition is now in production at Rheinmetall's Unterluss site in north-central Germany.

Germany has delivered 46 Gepards and 21,042 rounds of ammunition, according to its government's list of military support to Ukraine updated on 24 August.