According to the Business Insider news portal, Brazil would be willing to sell 300.000 35mm ammunition for Ukraine to arm its Flakpanzer Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, donated by yesterday (26).
Until now it was only known that the manufacturer Kraus-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), wanted to deliver the vehicles with only about 23.000 rounds of ammunition in stock. At up to 1100 rounds per minute, the supply would have only lasted a few minutes.
Switzerland, where Oerlikon, which manufactures the guns that equip the Gepard armored vehicles, is headquartered, blocked the transfer of ammunition just yesterday. As reported by Reuters, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) confirmed a report by broadcaster SRF that it had blocked from sending ammunition for Gepard tanks transferred to Ukraine.
SECO received two orders from to transfer 12,7mm (.50) and 35mm ammunition to Ukraine. Both types of ammunition had previously been received from Switzerland.
“Both of 's questions about whether munitions received from Switzerland can be transferred to Ukraine were answered negatively with reference to Swiss neutrality and the mandatory rejection criteria of the Swiss legislation on war material”, said SECO.
With the (supposed) Brazilian offer, the current concerns of the Ukrainian ambassador to , Andriy Melnyk, should also disappear, observes the portal. Melnyk had pointed out on NTV on Wednesday that anti-aircraft tanks were useless without ammunition. “If the ammunition is not acquired by the German Ministry of Defense in the coming days, Ukraine will probably have to renounce this offer from .”
The Brazilian Army acquired 34 Armored Combat Anti-aircraft Vehicles (VBC AAe) Gepard 1A2 in May 2013.
Based on the chassis of the Leopard 1 tank, the Gepard is equipped with a pair of 35mm Oerlikon GDF cannons, each with a fire rate of 550 rounds per minute and a useful range of 5 km, and can receive ammunition for use against targets. air and land. The armored vehicle has two radars, one for target detection and the other a shooting radar for directing automatic cannons, both with a 15 km range.
