According to the armaments company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), the federal government has approved the sale of 100 new self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine. A company spokesman confirmed a corresponding report by the news magazine “Der Spiegel” on Wednesday.
Accordingly, on July 13, the Ministry of Economic Affairs granted the Munich armaments company approval for the construction of the 2000 self-propelled howitzers. The spokesman said that the export was thus also approved.
The contract with Ukraine is now being made. However, KMW is willing to make advance payments so that no time is lost.
Germany has so far delivered ten Panzerhaubitz 2000 from its own stocks to the Ukraine. The Panzerhaubitze is the Bundeswehr’s most modern artillery piece with a range of 40 kilometers. The armed forces of eight states have more than 360 of these howitzers at their disposal.
When the Ukraine will get the first howitzers newly manufactured by KMW is a secret. According to the information, the production of all 100 howitzers should take several years.
According to “Spiegel”, the Ukraine had already asked KMW in April whether the howitzers could be bought directly from the manufacturer. KMW submitted the official application to the ministry on July 11 and received approval two days later.