Ukraine received Gepard anti-aircraft guns purchased by the United States

5 June, 2024 The Gepard SPAAG of the Jordanian Armed Forces was transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Photo credits: Ukrainian Air Force Ukraine received the Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft systems that the United States purchased in Jordan.

Photos of the SPAAGs were published on the official Facebook page of the Ukrainian Air Force. The Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns purchased by the United States from Jordan have an upgraded fire control system and a more modern radar system. Initially, in 1977 and 1979, these anti-aircraft systems were supplied to the Netherlands Armed Forces under a contract.

They received a different radar part and a smoke screen system.

The Gepard SPAAG of the Jordanian Armed Forces was transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Photo credits: Ukrainian Air Force

First of all, it was distinguished by its search radar antenna, which operates in the X-band (the German one is in the S-band) and has a circular polarization (the German one has only horizontal polarization). There is also a certain difference in the target acquisition antenna, which on Dutch vehicles operates in the X/Ka bands (on German Ku bands) and has a shorter target detection range of 13 km (on German 15 km).

Despite this, the Dutch Gepard gun is capable of adjusting frequencies at six points, while the German one is only able to adjust at two points. According to the report, the Gepard system is currently hunting for Russian UAVs and cruise missiles as part of the air defense forces of the Air Command West. "We strive to achieve the highest efficiency in repelling air and missile strikes and destroying the maximum number of targets.

That is why we continuously train crews, collect, summarize and share best practices, and conduct training with the use of control targets," the Ukrainian Air Force stated.

The Gepard SPAAG of the Jordanian Armed Forces was transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Photo credits: Ukrainian Air Force

The Dutch installations received the Cheetah designation through the traditional naming system, which required the system to be named using the letter of the company that received it (in this case, Company C). In November 2023, Militarnyi reported that the United States purchased 60 Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns from Jordan for Ukraine.

The U.S. government paid £118 million for these anti-aircraft guns, which were allocated as part of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).

Under the contract, work on the preparation of air defense systems for shipment to the customer will be carried out in Jordan's territory.