Germany increases the delivery of 35mm Gepard Anti-Aircraft Ammunition to Ukraine.

According to a recent Bild report from 2 April 2024, the supply of ammunition for Gepard self-propelled gun anti-aircraft systems in Ukraine has significantly improved. Initially, a shortage in Germany led Ukrainian operators to ration their use. Following these reports, the German Defense Ministry committed to increasing supplies. An anonymous Ukrainian armed forces officer confirmed to Bild that the availability of Gepard ammunition has indeed seen an improvement.
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Gepard Self-propelled Gun Anti-Aircraft System used in Ukraine (Picture source: Ukraine MoD and Rheinmetall)

In an unprecedented mobilization to support Ukraine in the face of the 2022 Russian invasion, the German government, working closely with Rheinmetall, overcame major logistical and technical challenges to supply fresh munitions to the Gepard self-propelled gun anti-aircraft system. Faced with an acute ammunition shortage in Germany, exacerbated by the withdrawal of Gepard systems from active service around fifteen years ago and the refusal of other nations to share their stocks for political or constitutional reasons, Germany has taken decisive steps to increase its domestic production capacity.

In February 2023, Boris Pistorius, the German Defense Minister, announced at a meeting of Ukraine's Defense Contact Group the creation of an ammunition production capacity for the Gepard at Rheinmetall in Germany. A contract had already been signed for the rapid delivery of 300,000 shells intended for this anti-aircraft tank, underlining the urgency and political importance of the initiative.

In September 2023, the first shipment of new ammunition for the Gepard was sent to Ukraine, namely 40,000 shells out of the promised 300,000.

Rheinmetall has traditionally produced a large part of its ammunition for medium-caliber weapons in Switzerland. However, in the face of the Swiss re-export ban and initial supply difficulties, including delays in the delivery of ammunition manufactured in Norway, the company invested in new production capacity in Germany. This development required a mix of reverse engineering and adaptive development to efficiently produce munitions compatible with the Gepard.

The Gepard self-propelled gun is equipped with two 90 caliber Oerlikon GDF cannons (3.15 m or 10 ft 4 in long), with a muzzle projectile velocity of 1,440 m/s (4,700 ft/s) for FAPDS shells ( Frangible Armor Piercing Discarding Hoof), providing an effective range of 5.5 km (3.4 miles). The ammunition used has a caliber of 35×228 mm (STANAG 4516).

The KDA autocannon has a dual-band feed system for two different types of ammunition; the usual loading per gun is 320 anti-aircraft (AA) rounds fed from inside the turret and 20 armor-piercing (AP) rounds from compact external storage. The 40 armor-piercing shells are normally fired one at a time, with the guns firing alternately; they are also intended for defense against lightly armored ground targets.

Each cannon has a rate of fire of 550 rounds/min. The combined rate of fire is 1,100 rounds/min, which, in unlimited mode, allows continuous fire for 35 seconds before ammunition runs out (with 640 AA shells for both guns). It is common to use salvos against aerial targets, 24 shells per gun for a total of 48 in limited mode and 48 shells per gun for a total of 96 in normal mode. Ukrainian air defense has found that reloading the guns takes an hour and a half, limiting their effectiveness. The cannons can be raised to a vertical angle of almost 90 degrees.

In 2022, a Ukrainian defense attaché in the United States highlighted the remarkable effectiveness of the Gepard against hovering munitions, reputed to be Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones. A single Gepard reportedly took out more than ten Shahed-136 drones as well as two cruise missiles. Such performance makes the Gepard more effective and economically viable than more sophisticated and expensive air defense systems such as the NASAMS or IRIS-T missiles while posing fewer political problems due to their limited range. It is worth noting that generally, gun systems are preferred over missiles when possible, due to the much lower cost per engagement and higher availability of munitions compared to surface-to-air missile systems and MANPADS. Ukraine reportedly suffered its first loss of a Gepard in April 2023, hit by a Lancet glide munition, although the full video shows the Gepard relatively intact after impact. A retired Gepard operator from Germany's 10th Armored Division, relying on a source in Ukraine, confirmed that the Gepard was still operational after being struck.

Ukraine deployed the Gepard air defense system to defend against the 2022 Russian invasion. On April 26, 2022, the German government gave the green light to Krauss-Maffei Wegmann to transfer approximately 50 refurbished Gepards to Ukraine, including those previously sold in Brazil and Qatar as a security measure during major sporting events.

The first three Gepards arrived in Ukraine on July 25, 2022, and by the end of September, thirty Gepards accompanied by 6,000 anti-aircraft ammunition had been delivered by Germany. On December 2, 2022, Germany picked up seven additional Gepard units destined for scrap, intending to renovate them and send them the following spring, but only four of them had reached Ukraine as of July 11, 2023. In May 2023, Germany bought back 15 Gepards sold to Qatar in 2020 for more than double their initial sale price.

All 52 Gepards promised by Germany had been delivered to Ukraine by December 22, 2023. On January 17, 2024, Germany committed to providing an additional 15 Gepards, along with 259,680 rounds of ammunition. It seems, then, that this promise is in the process of being fulfilled.