Rheinmetall supplying Ukraine with 20 Marder IFVs, 60 more planned

Rheinmetall is supplying Ukraine with additional Marder infantry fighting vehicles and plans to send 60 more units in future.

The German government awarded Rheinmetall the relevant contract in May 2023. The order is worth a figure in the lower-two-digit million-euro range. The Marders are due to be delivered this summer.

The company has already shipped first 20 Marder IFVs to Ukraine back on 21 March 2023. Ukraine received a further 20 of these vehicles directly from existing Bundeswehr stocks. In addition to the Marders ordered to date, Rheinmetall can make a further 60 available.

Work on this is already underway at Rheinmetall’s plants in Kassel and Unterlüß. Up to 10 infantry fighting vehicles can be delivered per month.

Under the German government’s “Ringtausch” programme, Greece will also be receiving 40 Marder IFVs. These too are to be shipped this summer.  The “Ringtausch” is a multilateral equipment exchange programme designed to support Ukraine’s war effort in the face of Russian aggression. In cooperation with Germany’s European neighbours and NATO partners, Soviet-era heavy equipment is being transferred to Ukraine in exchange for surplus Western-made systems. Rheinmetall is taking part in various “Ringtausch” exchanges involving the armed forces of Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia.

The vehicles being made available are overhauled Marder 1A3 systems formerly owned by the Bundeswehr. As early as spring 2022, Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH began restoring the infantry fighting vehicles to a state of immediate combat readiness at its own expense at its sites in Unterlüß and Kassel.