“Ukraine can count on us, and this is a signal. And Germany is ready to take responsibility in Europe,” Pistorius said during a visit to Kassel, where KNDS manufactures the weapons.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Oleksiy Makeev, symbolically accepted the first of a total of 54 howitzers, which Germany plans to hand over to Ukraine. The first six howitzers will initially remain in Germany, where they will be used to train Ukrainian soldiers.
“We don’t need mediators, we need allies,” Makeyev said, stressing that peace must be fought for. He added that it is good to know that Germany is on Ukraine’s side.
KNDS was created by the merger of the German arms manufacturer “Krauss-Maffei Wegmann” (KMW) and the French company “Nexter”.
The company describes the new artillery system “RCH 155” as the world’s most modern howitzer on wheels, which for the first time enables firing on the move. Two soldiers are enough to operate the new and highly automated artillery system.
The German army would also later be armed with these howitzers.