Germany: Company Rheinmetall requests approval to deliver Marder tracked armored IFVs to Ukraine.

According to information published by the International Press Agency, Reuters on April 25, 2022, the company Rheinmetall from Germany has requested approval to deliver 100 Marder tracked armored IFVs (Infantry Fighting Vehicles) to Ukraine.
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German army Marder 1A3 tracked armored IFV Infantry Fighting Vehicle. (Picture source Army Recognition)

Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, Germany has blocked the export of lethal weapons and combat vehicles to Ukraine, according to local policies. On February 28, 2022, Germany had still accepted the delivery of 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger anti-aircraft defense systems to Ukraine.

The German government has also authorized the Netherlands to send Ukraine 400 Panzerfaust 3 rocket-propelled grenade launchers and told Estonia it ship over send nine D-30 howitzers.

Army Recognition reported that the two most important German defense companies, Kraus-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall are ready to provide combat vehicles to Ukraine including Gepard anti-aircraft armored vehicles, Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks, and Marder tracked armored IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine.

The German Company Rheinmetall requested an export license to deliver the Marder IFV, they will be refurbished in the coming months to then be sent to Ukraine. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to ask Europe to provide more heavy weapons including tanks, artillery systems, and anti-aircraft missiles.

The Marder is a tracked armored Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) fully designed and developed in Germany that was delivered to the German army in 1968/1969. The first Marder IFV was handed over on 7 May 1971 and production continued through to 1975.

The layout of the Marder is conventional for a modern IFV with the driver seated at the front left side of the hull with the engine compartment on its right, a two-man turret mounted at the top right side of the roof, and a troops compartment on the rear. The vehicle has a crew of three including a driver, commander, gunner, and can accommodate six infantrymen.

In recent years, the Marder IFV has undergone many modernizations and the Marder 1A3 version has been the most used by the German army. The two-man turret is armed with one 20 mm Rheinmetall MK 20 Rh202 automatic cannon mounted externally which has an elevation of +65º, depression of -17º, and a 360º turret traverse. The second armament of the Marder 1A3 includes one 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun MG3 mounted to the right of the main armament. Two banks of three electrically operated 76 mm smoke grenade dischargers are mounted between the coaxial machine gun and the gun. On the right side of the turret, there is also a MILAN anti-tank guided missile launcher station operated by the commander with one missile ready to fire and six inside the vehicles.

The A3 version of the Marder is also fitted with a new armor package able to withstand fire the fire of the 20mm cannon of the Russian armored vehicle BMP-2. The vehicle features many new improvements including the installation of reinforced torsion bars, a hydraulic duplex brake system, change of gear ratio of the lateral final drives to maintain high mobility, steering agility, and acceleration.

The Marder IFV is powered by an MTU MB 833 Ea-500 6-cylinder liquid-cooled diesel engine developing 600 hp at 2,200 rpm coupled to a 4-speed HSWL 194 transmission with 4 forward and 2 reverse gears. It can run at a maximum road speed of 65 km/h with a maximum cruising range of up to 520 km.