The federal government now wants to order up to 28 of the artillery pieces for the Bundeswehr.
(Photo: Reuters)
Berlin The Federal Government initiates the procurement of the 2000 self-propelled howitzers handed over to the Ukraine. A corresponding framework agreement with the manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) provides for the manufacture and delivery of up to 28 vehicles. The first concrete order is the replacement of ten copies that were delivered to the Ukraine.
The budget committee, which has to release the necessary funds, has now been informed about the framework agreement. The replacement purchase has a total volume of around 185 million euros, most of which will be due in 2025.
In order to support Ukraine against the Russian war of aggression, the federal government decided in May last year to hand over self-propelled howitzers from Bundeswehr stocks to Ukraine. The Netherlands, which also uses the weapon system, participated in the support.
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) recently stated that the procurement of replacements should be launched in the first quarter. It is to be financed neither from the regular defense budget nor from the 100 billion euro special fund for the Bundeswehr. Rather, the money comes from the funds for “upgrading partner states in the area of security, defense and stabilization”, for which a total of 2.2 billion euros are planned for the current year.
Should further examples be ordered after the ten firmly ordered self-propelled howitzers, this can only be done in lots of at least six pieces. The order volume for all 28 self-propelled howitzers is around 470 million euros.
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