(Bloomberg) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany will supply Ukraine with IRIS-T guided missiles as he pushed back against persistent criticism that the government in Berlin is dragging its feet on sending heavy weaponry.
“In the coming weeks we will continue to deliver weapons,” Scholz said Wednesday in an address to the lower house of parliament.
Germany will also send four systems of the multi-rocket launcher MARS II from its own military stocks to Ukraine, in coordination with a US plan to send a similar system, according to a German official who asked not to be named because the plans aren’t public.
The IRIS-T guided missiles, manufactured by Ueberlingen, Germany-based Diehl Defence, are “the most modern air-defense system that Germany has,” Scholz said, adding that it’s capable of protecting major cities from attack.
He did not specify the number of missiles, while Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a separate address later Wednesday it would take “months” for the missiles to be delivered due to the advanced nature of the technology.
“It was actually supposed to go to another country but we stepped in and arranged for them to do without it and for it to go to Ukraine,” Baerbock said.
“It needs these medium and long-term signals that show we haven’t given up on Ukraine in three months but will defend it according to our means without getting directly involved ourselves.”
The announcement won praise from Andrij Melnyk, the country’s ambassador to Germany, an outspoken critic of Germany’s response to the war and prior relationship with Russia.
“This is a real breakthrough for us,” Melnyk said in an interview with WirtschaftsWoche.
Ukraine expects the first IRIS-T delivery in October and could obtain a further 11 systems at short notice, the German magazine cited Melnyk as saying.
Each system costs 140 million euros ($149.2 million), he told the magazine.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany reversed a long-standing policy of not sending arms to conflict zones.
Scholz’s ruling coalition agreed to supply the government in Kyiv with weapons including anti-tank rocket launchers, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, Strela surface-to-air missiles, anti-tank mines, machine guns, hand grenades and ammunition.
Amid intense pressure to do more, and match shipments of heavier weapons organized by some allies, the government also agreed to send seven self-propelled, armored howitzers and 50 Gepard anti-aircraft armored vehicles.
However, apparent delivery delays prompted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to direct more sharp criticism at Germany as recently as Monday.
“There are countries we are waiting for to deliver and countries we are tired of waiting for,” Kuleba said in an interview with Italy’s la Repubblica newspaper.
“Germany belongs to the second group.”
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht justified the delay by saying that Ukrainian soldiers need 40 days of training to use the howitzers, while the vehicles aren’t yet in condition to be sent.
Germany is working with several eastern European countries, including the Czech Republic, on swap deals under which those states send Soviet-era equipment to Ukraine.
Germany then pays for the delivery of modern replacement tanks.
Scholz told lawmakers Wednesday that the government in Prague will send 20 T-72 tanks to Ukraine to be replaced by Germany and talks on further deliveries are continuing.
Germany will also provide Ukraine with a radar system capable of detecting artillery, he said.
He referred to an agreement with Greece announced this week under which the government in Athens will send Ukraine BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles that the country took delivery of in 1994.
Greece will get Marder fighting vehicles from Germany in return, the Greek defense ministry said.
According to Scholz, additional weapons Germany will provide include:
- 12 self-propelled armored artillery systems in conjunction with the Netherlands
- 54 armored personnel carriers together with Denmark
(Updates with rocket launchers in the second, Ukrainian ambassador comment in fifth paragraph)
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