PARIS – Germany will provide Ukraine with an extra 4 IRIS-T SLM medium-range air defense systems as a part of a military aid package value greater than €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion), the German Defence Ministry said in a statement Thursday. The systems shall be supplied from 2025.
The package also includes drones and drone-defense systems, demining vehicles, satellite communications, electronic warfare equipment, directional anti-tank mines and artillery shells, geared toward addressing acute needs of the Ukrainian armed forces, in line with the ministry.
RELATED
![](https://www.defensenews.com/resizer/BZgfbBu8LN7YiTEzaY7sv0KcMlg=/800x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/archetype/NI55R5LXV5GM5HTMSR2XTYZGUU.jpg)
Germany has develop into the largest supplier of military aid to Ukraine behind the U.S., after initial reluctance to supply arms. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius earlier this month confirmed plans to spice up the country’s military support for Ukraine, in response to media reports the federal government is looking for to double the help to €8 billion in 2024.
IRIS-T systems and a second Patriot tracking radar handed over in October will reach Ukraine this yr, once Ukrainian personnel have accomplished their training, the ministry said.
Pistorius announced the support on Nov. 22 in a video conference with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the seventeenth meeting within the so-called Ramstein format, and said Germany will stand with Ukraine “now and for the long run,” in line with the ministry.
Along with short-term aid, the contact group discussed the long-term capability development of the Ukrainian armed forces. Germany and France will lead a “capability coalition,” bringing together greater than 20 countries to determine the Capability Coalition Ground Based Air Defense, the ministry said.
Germany may even support other future capability coalitions, and further steps can be discussed at the following meeting on this topic, expected to happen in Berlin in December.
The German government stands ready make a “significant contribution” to modernizing and upgrading the Ukrainian armed forces, in line with the statement.
“The Ukrainian armed forces have to be made so strong that they’ll defeat Russian aggression today and deter any attempt at an extra attack tomorrow,’’ the ministry said.
Pistorius identified in the course of the support meeting that Germany has made an “enormous contribution” for the reason that start of the war, with Ukraine “massively strengthened” in the realm of air defense through the delivery of Patriot and IRIS-T systems, in addition to almost 50 Gepard anti-aircraft guns.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in September urged allies to “dig deep” and supply more air defense systems for Ukraine, to assist the country fend of barrages of Russian missiles.
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He began his profession at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.