Germany announces a half-billion-dollar military aid package

19 March, 2024 155mm artillery shells. Photo credits: telegraph.co.uk Germany will allocate half a billion euros to purchase hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition to meet Ukraine's urgent needs.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced this during a meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine in the Ramstein format. The German Minister of Defence announced the allocation of EUR500 million to meet the short-term needs of the Ukrainian army. 10,000 artillery munitions will initially be transferred from the German Armed Forces inventory for urgent support of Ukraine, which, according to Pistorius, should begin immediately.

The new package also funds the purchase of 180,000 artillery shells within the so-called "Czech initiative," the first of which are to arrive this summer. In addition, the German government will sign an additional contract to purchase another 100,000 155mm artillery shells for Western artillery systems from its own manufacturers. The delivery is scheduled to start in 2024.

Supply of armored vehicles

In addition to the supply of ammunition, Boris Pistorius also mentioned in his speech the delivery of 100 armored vehicles and 100 transport vehicles.

Due to the lack of details, it is currently difficult to say whether this would regard the transfer of new armored vehicles within the announced military aid package or the systems already committed. However, this news correlates with statements by German government officials about the launch of a coalition to supply armored vehicles to the Ukrainian Defense Forces, which is scheduled to begin on March 26.

German ATF Dingo armored vehicles in Ukraine, March 2023

In February of this year, Germany ordered 120,000 122mm artillery rounds from Bulgaria. According to the press release, all shells are to be delivered to Ukraine in 2024. The decision to engage Bulgarian facilities was made not only to ensure the supply of Soviet-era ammunition but also to fully utilize the current shell production facilities in Germany.

To solve the issue with the pace of deliveries, a leading German ammunition company is building two factories at once, one of which is to be located in Ukraine.

In addition, it has been reported that German officials are conducting secret negotiations to purchase artillery shells in India.