German defence company Rheinmetall announced on 15 February that it has been tasked by the German Ministry of Defence to produce 35mm ammunition for the German-built Gepard tracked self-propelled anti-aircraft system in service with the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Rheinmetall stated that it will be supplying 150,000 rounds each of Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot – Tracer (APDS-T) and High Explosive Incendiary – Tracer (HEI-T) ammunition. This will enable the effective engagement of a multitude of targets. The first APDS-T rounds will be delivered in the summer of 2023. A shift in production from APDS-T to HEI-T is scheduled to take place in mid-2024.
At its plant in Unterlüß, Rheinmetall is currently creating additional medium-calibre ammunition production capacity, which is due to go into operation in the summer of 2023. In building this new production line, Rheinmetall said that it is responding to sharply increased global demand.
On 26 April 2022, the German government authorized Krauss-Maffei Wegmann to transfer 50 refurbished Gepard anti-aircraft vehicles to Ukraine, with the first three Gepards arriving on 25 July 2022. As of February 2023, 32 Gepards had been delivered.
