The first three German-made Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns have arrived in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Southern Operational Command announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
The Southern Operational Command described the Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns as one of the best in their class: they are capable of hitting targets at distances of between 100 meters and 4 kilometers. Each is operated by a crew of three: the driver, the commander, and the gunner.
"These complexes will defend important infrastructure objects against attacks by helicopters and airplanes flying at low and ultra-low altitudes," the command said in the statement.
The development of the Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns began in the 1960s. The anti-aircraft guns were an extremely important part of the air defense systems in the armies of Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium for a long time. However, Germany took them out of service in 2000. They are now used in other countries.
"The self-propelled anti-aircraft gun is based on the chassis of the Leopard 1 tank. It is equipped with two 35-mm Oerlikon KDA guns and two radars with a range of up to 15 kilometers. The 1A2 modification for the Ukrainian Armed Forces is equipped with a digital computer that can receive data from other radars: essentially, it can ‘see’ a target outside its zone. Each of its guns has 320 rounds of anti-air ammunition and 20 rounds of anti-tank ammunition. Each gun has a firing rate of 550 rounds per minute, i.e., 1,100 rounds for both. The Gepard is capable of operating under intensive enemy radio-electronic countermeasures," the statement said.
It was reported earlier that a total of 30 Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns would be transferred to Ukraine and that at least 100 Ukrainian military servicemen had trained in Germany to operate them.
At the end of last month, it was reported that Poland had transferred to Ukraine PT-91 Twardy tanks, which are the main tanks used in the Polish army.
