Germany orders 40 Marder combat vehicles for Ukraine

STUTTGART, Germany — The German government has ordered 40 overhauled Marder infantry fighting vehicles for Ukraine, its manufacturer Rheinmetall announced Sept. 11.

The new order — placed last month with a value in the “high double-digit million-euro amount” — doubles the total number of Marders to be sent to Ukraine, according to Rheinmetall’s news release. Germany previously commissioned two batches of 40 total refurbished vehicles beginning in 2022.

The Schützenpanzer Marder 1 has been in service with the German Army since the 1970s, and has undergone a series of combat upgrades in the decades since. Rheinmetall said the vehicles for Ukraine are overhauled Marder 1A3 systems formerly owned by the German military, and that the company began retrofitting the vehicles in spring 2022.

The company can deliver up to 10 infantry fighting vehicles per month, and the first 20 Marders were shipped to Ukraine in March. The second order of 20 Marders was placed in June, and those vehicles are currently being overhauled and delivered.

“Rheinmetall is pressing ahead with work to overhaul these older vehicles and ensure that the latest lot of Marder IFVs can be delivered as per contract starting in 2023,” the company said.

In January 2023, the United States and Germany announced they would both begin sending infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine, with the former providing Bradleys built by BAE Systems, and the latter sending Marders. Ukraine is currently fighting off a Russian invasion.

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