Germany Supports Ukraine With 50 Surface Drones

Ukraine uses naval UAVs to attack Russian warships and other weapons.

Ukraine will receive 50 surface drones from Germany as part of the €400 million winter military aid package previously announced by Berlin. According to the German Ministry of Defence, these drones “will help repel the aggressor both at sea and on land.”

Ukraine uses naval UAVs to attack Russian warships and other weapons. In particular, drones of this type were used to attack the Crimean Bridge on July 17. They also used them to attack the Olenegorsky Gornyak major landing craft and the Sig tanker. Both vessels were significantly damaged and lost speed.

On September 13, the Ukrainian forces used surface drones and British Storm Shadow cruise missiles to strike a ship repair plant in Sevastopol. As a result, the Minsk landing craft and the Rostov-on-Don submarine were destroyed. On September 15, surface drones hit the Samum missile ship.

The Russian MoD regularly reports on repelling surface drone attacks in the Crimean Peninsula, as well as missile attacks on Ukrainian facilities where unmanned crafts are produced and serviced.

The German Ministry of Defence did not specify the type of drones in the aid package. Military expert David Hambling told Forbes that currently nothing is known about the presence of such devices in the Bundeswehr or the German defence industry. Perhaps Berlin is going to buy these drones from other countries and transfer them to Ukraine, or plans to create them from scratch.

In addition to surface UAVs, Germany will transfer Gepard anti-aircraft self-propelled guns, IRIS-T medium-range air defence missiles, 30 thousand 155-mm shells, 480 AT2 anti-tank mines and 200 MRAP armoured vehicles to counter minefields to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In addition, the package will include winter equipment, and spare parts kits for previously delivered systems and vehicles.

Supplies will be made from Bundeswehr reserves as well as jointly with industrial partners. The promised weapons are to be transferred to Ukraine “as soon as possible”.

Also, Germany will continue training the Ukrainian troops on its territory. At the moment, the country has already trained 7,000 troops, and by the end of the year, there will be 10,000. The main attention is paid to training the leadership of lower tactical levels - group, platoon, and company commanders - as well as military engineers. In particular, at the end of September, Ukrainian Leopard 1 A5 maintenance specialists will go to Germany for the first time, the Ministry of Defence clarified.

“We are thus concentrating on the main areas that would bring the greatest possible benefit to Ukraine,” the MoD representatives said, adding that Germany ranks first in Europe and second in the world after the United States in terms of total assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.