Ukraine can drive Russian troops out of the country as soon as possible now mainly depends on Germany, and whether Germany is willing to provide the armored vehicles that Ukraine urgently needs, said Ukrainian military expert.
The German concern Rheinmetall has modernized 16 Marder infantry fighting vehicles to the Marder 1A3 level at its own expense, has already started similar work on 14 more BMPs, and is ready to modernize 70 more “Marders” in the future.
Rheinmetall took these infantry fighting vehicles from storage bases in Germany and modernized them specifically for commercial sale to a foreign customer. But the German government headed by Chancellor Scholz does not allow these BMPs to be sold for export, complains the German publication Tagesschau.
The authors of the portal hint that the prohibition of Rheinmetall to sell the modernized Marder 1A3 for export is directly related to the fact that Scholz still remains indecisive regarding the supply of armored vehicles for the Armed Forces, which is necessary for the speedy victory of Ukraine.
Although the Bundestag directly demands from the German government to hand over all necessary equipment to the Ukrainian army as soon as possible. And the White House in its diplomatic communication already indicates that it “expects from Germany” more in terms of assistance to Ukraine.
According to the Us “Washington Post” reported on September 13, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Zelensky, said in an interview with the newspaper on the same day that whether Ukraine can drive Russian troops out of the country as soon as possible now mainly depends on Germany, and whether Germany is willing to provide the armored vehicles that Ukraine urgently needs.
On September 12, just as Ukraine was making military progress in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Germany said it would not provide Ukraine with military equipment such as Leopard 2 main battle tanks.
Germany has already reached the stage where Scholz’s indecision in transferring weapons to Ukraine is already beginning to harm the German economy. There is no doubt that Ukraine would quickly and urgently buy the above-mentioned 16 modernized Marder 1A3 if there was an opportunity, and in time – and expand the order. Because our army needs any armored vehicles literally “for yesterday”. But due to the position of the German government, the armed forces continue to have a shortage of BBM, but the German defense industry continues to be without money.
Let’s briefly outline that the Marder 1A3 differs from the basic version in the presence of the MELLS PU for launching the Spike family of missiles, the latest Hensoldt Spectus sighting system, a more powerful power plant, and the installation of the same tracks, ventilation and fire extinguishing systems as in the latest Puma BMPs.
Germany reportedly stepped up its military assistance to Ukraine before this summer, particularly by providing anti-aircraft and anti tanks missiles and pledging high-tech anti-aircraft missiles. German Defense Minister Christina Lambrecht has previously said that Germany will not deliver heavy weapons to Ukraine in large quantities because the German armed forces have exhausted their stockpiles and must ensure their own defense capabilities.