Bild: Germany delays delivery of MRAP armoured vehicles to Ukraine
Deliveries were to begin in January 2024
Ukraine has signed a contract with a German defence company for the supply of MRAP armoured personnel carriers, funded by the German government, but the delivery of the vehicles has been delayed. In addition, the number of vehicles has been reduced.
Source. This was reported by Bild.
Germany is delaying the transfer of a batch of MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) heavy wheeled armoured vehicles to Ukraine.
Berlin promised to provide the Armed Forces of Ukraine with up to 400 MRAP armoured personnel carriers with enhanced mine protection from January 2024, but deliveries have not yet begun, Bild writes, citing a representative of the German Ministry of Defence and a document from the same agency.
The document, dated September 2023, states that the armoured vehicles are to be delivered from January to October 2024 in batches of 20, Bild further notes. According to the publication, the volume of these deliveries for the current year was reduced first to 200 and then to 100 units, and their start was postponed to May-June. The reason was difficulties with importing armoured vehicle parts from the US, which are assembled in Germany.
The German defence company Flensburger Fahrzeugbau GmbH (FFG), which is supposed to produce the MRAP, has faced "restrictions on the US export licence to Germany" as well as problems with mine protection certification, Bild reports.
The contract, which is financed from the German budget, is worth €315 million.
On 19 March, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius officially announced the delivery of "100 protected infantry vehicles" as part of a package of military equipment "to increase mobility on the battlefield".
In response to Bild's inquiry, the Ministry of Defence explained that these were MRAPs, or mine and ambush protected vehicles, manufactured by the FFG arms company. All the vehicles will be delivered to Ukraine in 2024, the ministry spokesperson said.
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