Over the past week, Germany handed over four more Gepard Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun (SPAAG) to Ukraine, according to the German government.
According to a press release from the German Ministry of Defense, Germany has already delivered 12 Gepard vehicles and preparing to send 18 more.
The armoured, all-weather Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft gun is designed to be adjusted to converge at the single point where enemy aircraft were expected to appear at low altitude in conduction of strafing runs directed at large infantry and field artillery units.
The Gepard was manufactured by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), based in Munchen, Germany, and was delivered to the armed forces of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
The Gepard is fitted with a two-man electric power-operated turret armed with twin 35mm guns. The barrel length is 90 calibers (3,150mm). The rate of fire provided by the two barrels is 1,100 rounds a minute. Each 35mm gun has 320 rounds of ready-to-fire, anti-air ammunition and 20 rounds of anti-ground target ammunition. The guns can fire a range of standardized 35mm ammunition, including the new FAPDS rounds. The FAPDS rounds have a muzzle velocity greater than 1,400m a second.
The Gepard has eight smoke dischargers installed on either side of the turret.
Furthermore, Germany sent 49,000 shells for the Gepard and three armored recovery vehicles.