Germany intends to finance the production of long-range drones for Ukraine, Die Welt newspaper reported, citing sources in the German government.
According to the publication, part of the new aid package for Ukraine from Germany, which became known on May 28 during Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Berlin, is the financing of Ukrainian long-range drones. In early May, Ukraine had already asked the German Ministry of Defense to finance the so-called BARS and AN-196 strike drones, as well as Flamingo drones. This was allegedly approved by Germany. The total cost of the project is estimated at approximately 400 million euros, the newspaper summarizes.
The fact that Ukraine is seeking funding primarily for the production of its own drones once again demonstrates the importance of this type of weapon in modern military conflicts, the publication emphasizes. Now the Bundeswehr is increasingly seeking to increase its own drone potential, the newspaper notes.
According to Die Welt, the military support package for Ukraine also includes the delivery of four IRIS-T air defense systems from the German defense company Diehl. In addition, the defense concern KNDS will receive a contract for the repair of equipment, including the repair of the Gepard anti-aircraft artillery complex. According to available information, the repair will be carried out in Ukraine.
On May 28, the German Ministry of Defense announced that the new military support package for Ukraine will amount to 5 billion euros. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov signed an agreement for Berlin to finance the production of long-range weapons in Ukraine. A significant number of long-range weapon systems, the ministry noted, should be produced in 2025. The weapon systems "will be quickly available to the Ukrainian armed forces - the first of them can be deployed in just a few weeks," the German Defense Ministry said.
Germany is the second largest supplier of weapons to Ukraine after the United States. Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, Germany has provided Kiev with various types of aid worth a total of about 44 billion euros.