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Germany commits to billions in military aid for Ukraine

Germany agreed on Wednesday to give billions of euros of new military aid to Ukraine in the coming years to bolster Kyiv's fight back against Russia.

Published: 30 March 2023 09:16 CEST

Ukraine military tanks

Ukrainian soldiers sit on a tank near the front line. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/AP | Kateryna Klochko

Berlin has shifted away from a traditionally pacifist stance since Moscow sent its forces into Ukraine last year, becoming one of Kyiv’s biggest military backers.

Parliament’s budget committee gave the green light for about eight billion euros ($8.7 billion) to be spent on directly purchasing weapons and equipment for Ukraine.

Around 12 billion euros in total will be released related to the Ukraine conflict over the next decade or so.

The other four billion will go to the German military to replenish stocks.

The Bundeswehr was already underfunded before the Ukraine war, and the situation has worsened as Berlin rushes cutting-edge gear to Kyiv.

The news represents a “very important step with which we make it clear that we are supporting Ukraine in the long term in its fight against (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” said German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.

The agreement will allow supplies including armoured vehicles, tanks, and ammunition to be delivered to Ukraine in the coming years, according to a statement from the minister.

The German army will also be able to buy new equipment.

Critics say the Bundeswehr has suffered from years of neglect and underinvestment, a product of the country’s deep-rooted post-war guilt.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged a major funding boost for the military.

READ ALSO: German military has ‘too little of everything’

But progress has been slow — none of a special €100 billion fund earmarked for the overhaul has yet been spent, it emerged earlier this month.

A senior lawmaker tasked with scrutinising the armed forces meanwhile said they were lacking in everything, with soldiers living in “pitiful” barracks.

This week, Scholz confirmed that promised Leopard battle tanks had been delivered to Kyiv.

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German arms maker struggles to meet demand as Ukraine war rages

Leading arms manufacturer Rheinmetall is racing to meet demand for weapons and ammunition to supply Kyiv, as well as Germany and other NATO countries which are bolstering their defences after draining stockpiles.

In March, as intense fighting continued around Bakhmut, NATO’s chief said “we need to ramp up production” warning Ukraine’s usage is outstripping allies’ production capacity.

“We are pulling out all the stops when it comes to production of ammunition for tanks,” said Harald Weismüller, head of the factory in Unterlüß, Lower Saxony.

Germany has long been a major arms maker and exporter, but in a country still haunted by guilt over Nazi atrocities in World War II, its manufacturers have kept a relatively low profile.

But as Russia’s war in Ukraine spurs demand, business is booming for Rheinmetall, which has seen orders surge and in March joined Frankfurt’s blue-chip DAX stock index.

The European Union has agreed on a plan to spend €2 billion on artillery shells for Ukraine to try to get a million rounds of artillery ammunition to the country over twelve months.

Kyiv had told the EU it needed 350,000 shells a month to support troops, saying its forces were having to ration firepower as the conflict turned into a grinding war of attrition.

READ ALSO: Germany unveils 2.7 bn euro weapons package for Ukraine

Among the wide array of armaments produced at Rheinmetall’s major Unterlüß plant are shells for Leopard 2 battle tanks, which can travel at
1,700 metres (5,580 feet) per second and pierce the armour of a Russian tank.

Between 400 and 500 shells can be produced in an eight-hour shift, and the rate could be increased, said Weismüller.

After huge pressure, Berlin agreed in January that German-made Leopards — for which Rheinmetall makes parts, and which are developed by manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann — could be sent to Ukraine. The first tanks were delivered in late March.

New production lines

From 60,000 a year before the war, Rheinmetall has ramped up production to 240,000 of the tank shells annually.

The firm is Europe’s biggest manufacturer of ammunition for tanks and artillery, ahead of Norway’s Nammo and France’s Nexter.

This position will be cemented with the acquisition of Spain’s Expal, a leading manufacturer of 120 mm shells.

Such is the boom in demand that the company is sitting on a backlog of orders worth €18.5 billion — three times its sales in 2022.

As well as supplying Ukraine, Germany’s decision to beef up its armed forces in the wake of the Ukraine war is helping to drive the surge.

READ ALSO: German military has ‘too little of everything’

A technician of German armaments company and automotive supplier Rheinmetall inspects an armored infantry fighting vehicle Marder at the Rheinmetall facility in Unterlüß. Photo: Axel Heimken / AFP

Rheinmetall estimates that Europe’s biggest economy will need to spend around €40 billion to replenish its stocks of armaments.

At Unterlüß, new machines are being installed and whole new production lines set up.

Equipment to make 35 mm shells fired by Gepard anti-aircraft tanks should begin production in less than six weeks, Weissmüller said, with up to 500,000 to be produced a year.

The shells are also produced in Switzerland but authorities in the traditionally neutral country have refused to allow their export to conflict zones.

The factory has also ramped up production of 155 mm shells for self-propelled howitzers, which can hit targets 25 kilometres away.

Elsewhere in the plant, old armoured vehicles, with patches of rust, have been completely dismantled, as workers prepare to refurbish them to be deployed once again on the battlefield.

This includes the Marder infantry fighting vehicle, dozens of which have already been sent to Ukraine.

Booming demand means the 2,400 staff at the site are working flat out, as the sound of shots ring out from Leopard 2 cannons being tested on an adjacent firing range, the largest in Europe.

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