Germany updated their list of aid to Ukraine.

  • 4 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC)

  • 1 IRIS-T air defense system and missiles

  • 1 TRML-4D radar

  • Ammo for MARS-2 MLRS

  • 8 VECTOR drones

  • 4 GO-12 radars

  • 5 UAVs

  • 5 USVs

  • 6 patrol vehicles

  • 5,000 155mm artillery shells

  • 4 8x8 HX81 trucks and trailers

  • 10,000 safety glasses

https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-en/news/military-support-ukraine-2054992

    • Hopfgeist@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      Yes, in total numbers Germany is the second largest donor of military aid to Ukraine after the US. In terms of fraction of GDP, there are other nations who have donated more, Poland, Bulgaria and the Baltic republics stand out here.

      • DarkThoughts@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Not by much.

        Poland: 13%
        Bulgaria: 10%
        Germany: 9%
        USA: 0.3%

        GDP based statistics of course favor smaller countries more but Germany is almost providing half as much as the US in total now and the EU combined almost twice as much as the US. I like to shit on my country too but those are some pretty clear cut numbers.

        • Hopfgeist@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          Which is a sight to behold. Before the invasion of Ukraine, German military budget was 1.3% of the GDP, although it was supposed to be 2.3 or something for NATO member states.

          • DarkThoughts@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            There’s was an agreement between NATO members to reach 2% of GDP military spending by 2024. That’s only indirectly relevant though and also often misrepresented in the news, mostly thanks to Trump back then.

        • Hopfgeist@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          Being German, I didn’t want to brag. 😉 But with all the legitimate criticism of a hesitant chancellor I’m a bit proud of what our government did achieve, although, of course, it could always be more. What currently worries me is Slovakia with a coalition government of far-left and far-right parties (maybe the Horseshoe Theory is real) stopping Ukraine aid, and possibly blocking or delaying EU funds for Ukraine. And of course who knows what’s going to happen after the next US presidential elections is anyone’s guess.

  • cedeho@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    Is there any info out there what those USVs could be? are they the platforms with tracks to e.g. evacuate wounded or transport?

    • DarkThoughts@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      They were almost certainly referring to the winter & electricity gear. Unless there’s something undisclosed, but I don’t see that given that Ukraine still lacks a launch platform for Taurus.

      • Hopfgeist@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        They managed to adapt the Su-24 for Storm Shadow, no reason it couldn’t be done for Taurus; they are of similar size and weight.

        I think the compromise was that they need to be programmed on the ground, as the aircraft avionics don’t offer a compatible complex interface, but a launch signal can be rigged. Since Both will probably be used against fixed targets (airfields, bridges, …) that is not a big drawback. Still, it needs to be done, and is not quite trivial.

        • DarkThoughts@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          I think Stormshadow is pre programmed by UK staff on the ground first before eventually launched by Ukrainian pilots. That won’t work with Taurus afaik as it needs a constant connection to the plane and also I believe it is also illegal for Germany to have their troops involved directly.

  • Etterra@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Is that a lot? That doesn’t seem like a lot. I’m an American, our government’s insanity gives us a false sense of what constitutes “a lot” in a military context.

    • Wilshire@sopuli.xyzOP
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      1 year ago

      Air defense systems and radars are invaluable for securing energy infrastructure this winter.

    • golli@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I wouldn’t say that it’s a massive package, but it’s part of a steady stream support. However as you say, it is hard rival the US military complex in size.

      As someone already mentioned the Iris-T SLM system and radars are probably the highlight. Air defense is always needed and this is a modern system. Ukraine already got 2 of them before and presumably this is a newly produced one. So in this regard we really are limited by supply.

    • DarkThoughts@kbin.social
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      11 months ago

      Iris-T is a state of the art medium range air defense system, reportedly with a hit rate in the upper ninety percentages. The Vector drones are also a couple hundred thousand per drone.