For almost three full years, the German government provided information on the latest deliveries and pledges of military equipment to Ukraine, initially on a weekly basis and since the beginning of this year on a monthly basis.
But with Friedrich Merz as the new German Chancellor, this is now a thing of the past, even though he was a strong voice in favour of transparency when he was in opposition!
Under the cover of “strategic ambiguity”, silence is now to be maintained about arms deliveries to suppress debates in advance and prevent Russia from gaining any more advantages on the battlefield.
While in my opinion these are just excuses that cannot be realised anyway through a lack of transparency or do not require it in the first place, the step taken by the German government to delete the list of military assistance from the government website forces observers like me to take an even closer look in future.
After all, this is for example about whether Friedrich Merz keeps his word and actually does more than just make grand speeches. With words alone, Ukraine cannot defend itself against the Russian aggressor. New military equipment and sufficient amounts of ammunition are needed as a matter of priority.
While it is of course still too early to say whether Friedrich Merz is a stronger supporter than Olaf Scholz, we can at least look at what he, after taking office, still has to deliver by the end of the year in order to honour the promises made publicly by the previous German government.
Artillery, armoured vehicles and quite a bit of air defence
The list of military equipment that the German government under the leadership of Friedrich Merz still has to deliver this year in order to honour earlier pledges is long, but by no means too long.
Last year, the German government under Olaf Scholz supplied considerably more equipment to Ukraine, especially when one looks at the number of armoured combat vehicles.
Just 25 Marder 1A3 IFVs and 37 Leopard 1A5 MBTs have to be delivered this year in order to fulfil commitments.
As recently as last year, Germany handed over 60 Marder 1A3 IFVs and 73 Leopard 1A5 MBTs to Ukraine, so there should be no excuses for Friedrich Merz to not honour these commitments.
Let’s have a closer look at the commitments I know about.
- ~ 380,000 artillery shells
- 13+ artillery systems (including 6 RCH 155)
- 300 reconnaissance drones
- 100 ground surveillance radars
- 2 Cheetah PRTL (Gepard SPAAGs)
- 4 IRIS-T SLM fire units
- 6 IRIS-T SLS launchers
- 15 or 37 Leopard 1A5 MBTs
- 30 Patriot missiles
- 25 Marder 1A3 IFVs
- 2 Skynex air defence systems
Of course, the equipment that was delivered to Ukraine between January and April 2025 under the former German government has already been excluded from this list. This includes seven artillery systems, three Cheetah PRTLs and two IRIS-T SLS launchers.
The majority of the weapons systems and ammunition just listed were publicly promised by the former Deputy Spokesperson of the Federal Government, Wolfgang Büchner, at the government press conference on the 19th of August 2024.
However, the exact number of artillery ammunition as well as the RCH 155, the 300 reconnaissance drones, the 100 ground surveillance radars, one IRIS-T SLM fire unit with two additionally integrated IRIS-T SLS launchers, the 30 Patriot missiles, five Marder 1A3 IFVs and the two Skynex air defence systems were pledged at an earlier or later date.
For a better overview, you will find a table in chronological order below, in which you can see who has pledged what and when.
| Weapon system & ammunition | Details (who & when) |
|---|---|
| 2 Skynex air defence systems | MoD on the 16th of February 2024 |
| 6 RCH 155 artillery systems | MoD on the 13th of January 2025 |
| ~ 380,000 artillery shells | MoD on the 3rd of April 2025 |
| 300 reconnaissance drones | MoD on the 17th of April 2025 |
| 100 ground surveillance radars | MoD on the 17th of April 2025 |
| 1 IRIS-T SLM fire unit | MoD on the 17th of April 2025 |
| 2 IRIS-T SLS launchers | MoD on the 17th of April 2025 |
| 30 Patriot missiles | MoD on the 17th of April 2025 |
| 5 Marder 1A3 IFVs | MoD on the 17th of April 2025 |
Just a brief comment on the table. Some of the equipment listed here was already promised at an earlier date, but without a concrete commitment for 2025.
The pledges made so far show one thing very clearly. The focus of the military support that has been publicly pledged for this year is clearly on the area of air defence.
The delivery of two additional Skynex systems, which are produced by Rheinmetall in Italy, would double the number of systems deployed in Ukraine, while the delivery of four IRIS-T SLM fire units would represent an increase of around 67 per cent.
Together with the 30 Patriot missiles from Bundeswehr stocks, the IRIS-T SLS launchers, Cheetah PRTL and the associated ammunition, which are also to be delivered, the Ukrainian Air Force will take a major step forward this year with the German deliveries alone — at least as far as the increase in capabilities, modernisation of the armed forces and interoperability with NATO are concerned.
Merz has an obligation!
But two other conclusions can also be drawn. Firstly, as mentioned at the beginning, the deliveries of infantry fighting vehicles and main battle tanks planned for this year are completely inadequate and are basically only intended to compensate for the losses of the Ukrainian army.
Secondly, as things stand at present, there will most likely be no more pledged infantry fighting vehicles, main battle tanks or reconnaissance drones at the end of the year, which Germany could deliver to Ukraine in the following years. The number of Skynex systems pledged by then will also be zero, while the IRIS-T SLM fire units and IRIS-T SLS launchers will probably only last for the following year.
Merz and Pistorius therefore have a clear obligation to conclude comprehensive and long-term contracts with companies such as Rheinmetall, KNDS Deutschland, Diehl Defence and Quantum Systems as quickly as possible in order to secure Germany’s future military support for Ukraine.
If this does not happen this year, Germany runs the serious risk of losing its self-declared status as Ukraine’s biggest supporter in Europe, which would not only be a PR disaster for the German government, but would also have a much more serious impact on the Ukrainian army.
Note
In the case of the Leopard 1A5 MBTs promised, 37 vehicles were pledged at the government press conference last year. However, in a publication by the Ministry of Defence dated the 11th of April 2025, which was subsequently corrected on the 17th of April, it was stated that 15 Leopard 1A5s had been promised for 2025.
In my opinion, however, this only has something to do with the fact that they initially wanted to sell these 15 main battle tanks as new assistance, even though they were old commitments. Unfortunately, I don’t know whether this ultimately means that the commitments for this year have been revised downwards from 37 to 15, or whether the Ministry of Defence simply didn’t express itself correctly in the corrected version of the article.
The same applies to the pledged reconnaissance drones. In a press statement in Brussels on the 11th April 2025, Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius said that the additional funds approved in March would be used to procure 300 reconnaissance drones for Ukraine, among other things.
It was only in the Ministry of Defence’s publication, which was corrected days later, that it was stated that the 300 reconnaissance drones were to be delivered in full this year. In view of the fact that this year more than 500 new reconnaissance drones had already been delivered by the time the 300 were pledged, it is probably not the total number of reconnaissance drones pledged for this year, but additional pledges for 2025.
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