German newspaper Die Welt reported Krauss-Maffei Wegman (KMW) may ship 50 decommissioned Gepard anti-aircraft (Flakpanzer) tanks to Ukraine. the Gepard was phased out in late 2010 and changed by Wiesel 2 Ozelot Leichtes Flugabwehrsystem (LeFlaSys) with 4 FIM-92 Stinger or LFK NG missile launchers. The corporate have round 50 fashions of the Gepard sort in its personal inventory, which could possibly be made operational once more comparatively rapidly. However determination lies with the German federal authorities. To many political observers in the US and a few japanese European nations, cracks appear to have appeared in Germany’s picture as a dependable ally. Earlier within the day, Germany will provide Ukraine 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 anti-aircraft Stinger missiles. Berlin dominated out supplying arms to Kyiv, and likewise turned down requests from allies to ship their German-made weapons to the nation.
The Flugabwehrkanonenpanzer Gepard (the Flakpanzer Gepard) is an all-weather-capable German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG). It was developed within the Nineteen Sixties and fielded within the Nineteen Seventies, and has been upgraded a number of instances with the most recent electronics. It constituted a cornerstone of the air defence of the German Military (Bundeswehr) and plenty of different NATO nations. A variant with the MANTIS gun system and LFK NG missiles, primarily based on the GTK Boxer, was additionally thought of. For the reason that eighties, Stinger groups have been accompanying the Gepard items to benefit from their long-range scanning capability. To mix this capability in a single unit, a missile system improve that mounts the FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS (in twin packs) to the autocannons was developed. The system was examined by the German Bundeswehr however not purchased as a consequence of finances restrictions and the fielding of the Ozelot Gentle Flak System (LeFlaSys).
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The automobile relies on the hull of the Leopard 1 tank with a big absolutely rotating turret carrying the armament—a pair of 35 mm Oerlikon KDA autocannons and the 2 radar dishes—a basic search radar on the rear of the turret and the monitoring radar, and a laser rangefinder, on the entrance between the weapons. Every gun has a firing price of 550 rounds/min, which supplies a steady fireplace time of 37 seconds earlier than operating out of ammo (with 680 rounds for each weapons). The weapons are 90 calibres (3.15 m (10 ft 4 in)) lengthy, with a muzzle velocity of 1,440 m/s (4,700 ft/s) (FAPDS—Frangible Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot rounds), giving an efficient vary of 5,500 m. The KDA autocannon can take two totally different ammunition varieties; the standard loading is a mixture of 320 AA and 20 AP rounds per gun. Mixed price of fireplace is 1,100 rounds/min.
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG (KMW) is a defence firm primarily based in Munich, Germany. The corporate produces numerous sorts of tools in addition to rail locomotives, tanks, self-propelled artillery, and different armoured automobiles. Krauss-Maffei Wegmann shouldn’t be confused with a separate present-day firm, KraussMaffei Group, which can be descended from the unique Krauss-Maffei merger. In 2015, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann merged with the French state-owned defence firm Nexter Methods. KMW is now a subsidiary of a newly fashioned holding firm, 50% of that are in flip managed by the previous homeowners of the German firm. Army product examples embody: Leopard 1/2 most important battle tank, PzH 2000 SPH, Gepard SPAAG, Dingo 1/2, FLW 100/200 distant weapon stations, Grizzly, GTK Boxer, MARS tracked a number of rocket launcher, Artillery Gun Module (AGM), Mungo ESK, Leguan armoured bridge layer, Puma infantry combating automobile, Fennek and F2 wheeled armoured automobile.
