Tests in real combat conditions! German weapons are partially fit for war

The war in Ukraine has shown that German weapons are "only partially fit" for combat operations, writes Der Spiegel.

Air defense, tanks, artillery: in the defensive war of the Ukrainian armed forces, military equipment supplied by Germany is being tested in real conditions. The war in Ukraine therefore offers German defense manufacturers and the Bundeswehr important information about how effective and durable their equipment is in real war conditions. Citing an internal Bundeswehr document, SZ and WDR are now reporting that Ukrainian soldiers' experiences with German weapons support have been mixed in some cases.

The document obtained by Spiegel is a transcript of a lecture given to around 200 junior officers of the Bundeswehr in Delitzsch, Saxony. The lecturer was the deputy military attaché at the German embassy in Kiev, who spoke at the end of January about the experience of the Ukrainian armed forces in fighting Russia's aggressive war. He spoke clearly about the problems the Ukrainians had with German weapons in combat. An army officer is keen to take notes to use the findings for training in the Bundeswehr.

For example, he concludes that the Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled artillery system demonstrates “such a high technical vulnerability that its suitability for combat operations is seriously in question“.

The Leopard 1A5 main battle tank has proven to be “reliable” on the front line, but is often used by the Ukrainians “only as improvised artillery due to its weak armor“.

The IRIS-T air defense system has proven quite effective, but the cost of ammunition is too high and it is “not available in the necessary quantities“.

On the other hand, the old Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft system, which is already decommissioned in Germany, has proven itself well.

The MARS system is “a game-changer on the battlefield“ due to its long range, but is only “partially“ suitable, as it cannot fire American cluster munitions.

“Almost no major German piece of equipment is fully war-ready“.