A Leopard 2 A5 on the training grounds in Munster | Photo: KNDS
Berlin (dpa) – German defence company KNDS says it is not in a position to deliver further weapons to Ukraine in the near future, according to managing director Ralf Ketzel.
KNDS, formerly Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), manufactures arms, including Leopard 2 battle tanks, which Germany has been supplying to Kiev since the beginning of 2023.
“The ability to deliver quickly is now exhausted,” Ketzel told online outlet web.de in remarks published on Thursday.
“Two years ago, a strategic decision should have been made that this will be a war lasting several years. Then we could deliver new material today,” Ketzel said, referring to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022.
At the time, it hadn’t been possible to speculate on the length of the war, he added.
Ketzel explained that several NATO states, in addition to Ukraine, also required equipment, partly to replace stocks that had been provided to Ukraine.
“This is at the expense of the Ukrainian soldiers, who currently have no superior equipment.”
Even though KNDS is producing equipment directly for Ukraine, Ketzel suggests that other countries could help Kiev more quickly by delivering the tanks they had ordered.
Ketzel also said it was difficult to predict the extent of damage suffered by the tanks provided to Kiev and used in the war.
According to Ketzel, obtaining spare parts for heavy military equipment is a challenge.
“We also don’t know how big the repair problem actually is on the ground. Eighty to 90% of the repairs are not done by us, but on the front.”
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