It appears that Ukraine received an unknown number of older aerial bombs from Bundeswehr stocks some time ago. This can be concluded based on published images from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which GAU discovered and analysed during research.
According to the designations on the bombs, the aerial bombs are so-called 250-kilogram “Type 25E” high-explosive bombs manufactured in France.
Given that these bombs are several decades old, it is now almost impossible to find any information on this subject online, and enquiries and discussions with experts, defence journalists and the German Ministry of Defence have failed to clarify the history of these bombs within the Bundeswehr with absolute certainty.
In response to an enquiry from GAU, a spokesperson for the Bundeswehr Military History Museum at Berlin-Gatow Airfield did, however, state that the SAMP Type 25E high-explosive bombs (later also MATRA) were introduced into the Bundeswehr in the late 1970s, alongside the Alpha Jet. Specifically, this would have been in 1979.
However, so-called MATRA aerial bombs, bearing exactly the same designations on the bomb itself and featuring the same external design, had already been used as early as 1975 during the Bundeswehr exercise “Stählerner Schatten” with the F-104 Starfighter and the G.91.
It would therefore appear that the SAMP Type 25E or MATRA Type 25E were procured for the Bundeswehr at least four years earlier, and possibly even earlier than that. In any case, this means that the bombs date back to the Cold War era and were introduced into the Bundeswehr at least half a century ago.
In 2015, the Bundeswehr also published footage showing a Tornado dropping MATRA bombs, which means that the Bundeswehr was still actively using these aerial bombs in exercises at least 11 years ago.
It is not clear when and how these aerial bombs came into the possession of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Neither the German Ministry of Defence nor the Bundeswehr Military History Museum at Berlin-Gatow Airfield were willing to comment upon enquiry.
The only thing that is clear is that the former German high-explosive bombs were delivered to Ukraine by February 2025 at the latest, and that this most likely took place as part of Germany’s military assistance.
After all, it is highly doubtful that Ukraine itself – or any other country – would purchase these decades-old aerial bombs from Germany, given that they have no realistic prospect of being used in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
It is probably most likely that the costs of storing, decommissioning and subsequently disposing of the Type 25E aerial bombs exceeded the costs incurred in transporting them to Ukraine, and that this is why the decision was taken to hand them over. Similar demands had already been made in 2024 regarding AMRAAM missiles from Bundeswehr stocks, which should have been decommissioned last year.
As already mentioned, the “Type 25E” aerial bombs have no realistic prospect of being deployed by the Air Force in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, as the bombs would have to be dropped from a low altitude of less than 100 metres directly above their target, where they would then impact after being slowed by a parachute.
They were therefore used for purposes besides those for which they were originally intended and, according to the published images, were deployed by the AFU’s 250th Engineering Support Center to mine bridges in Ukraine.
A truly interesting choice, given that, due to the weight of the aerial bombs (250 kilograms), specialised equipment such as a lorry fitted with a crane is required for both transport and mounting.
It is not known how many Type 25E aerial bombs from German stocks have been supplied to Ukraine. However, given their age, it can be assumed that the number is unlikely to be large.
Furthermore, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have not published any additional image or video material showing further deployment either before or after February 2025, meaning that, at present, no further conclusions can be drawn beyond those already mentioned.
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