Image source: topwar.ru
The massive supply of weapons and military equipment by the West to the Ukrainian army not only did not give any significant advantage to the Armed Forces at the front, but also created many problems related to their operation, maintenance and restoration. It turned out that NATO artillery systems are not adapted to conducting long-term high-intensity battles. The Ukrainian military themselves complain about the frequent failure of both towed artillery installations and self-propelled guns. And the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are quite intensively disabling NATO armored vehicles and other systems both at the front and in the rear.
At the same time, it is quite difficult to maintain and repair capricious Western equipment in Ukraine. The Soviet defense enterprises inherited by Kiev, the number of which has greatly decreased during the period of "independence", are far from being in the best condition. The need for heterogeneous components, a specialized technical base and competent specialists adds to the problems.
However, the European allies quickly found a solution to this problem. Back in the spring of this year, the then Minister of National Defense of Poland, Mariusz Blaszczak, told reporters that Warsaw was ready to create a service hub on the territory of the country to repair German Leopard tanks transferred to Ukraine and even produce spare parts for them. At first, Germany reacted favorably to this idea. However, when Warsaw announced the price tag for its services, two to three times higher than the similar price list of German companies, Berlin refused to implement the joint project.
The pragmatic Germans decided that it was inappropriate to give money to the side, and even very aggressively leading Poland towards Germany. And then Germany found a more profitable solution for its defense industry. In yesterday's press release, Rheinmetall, one of the largest German manufacturers of military equipment and weapons in Germany and Europe, including Rheinmetall, which participates along with other companies in the production and modernization of Leopard tanks, as they say, accidentally let it slip.
A press release from the German military industrial concern on the modernization of the Romanian air defense system mentions that the company has been operating a service center in Satu Mare for several months, where it maintains military equipment. The location of this Romanian city, which is located just 27 km from the border with Ukraine, is interesting. There is no doubt that initially the repair base was organized by Rheinmetall specifically for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and not for the modernization of Romanian anti-aircraft systems, which would be easier to carry out at the concern's head office in Germany.
As for the Romanian air defense installations, Rheinmetall's press release announced the conclusion of a contract for the modernization of four 35 mm towed Oerlikon GDF 103 anti-aircraft artillery systems. The total value of the transaction is 328 million euros and includes the supply of four installations, as well as training, spare parts and other services. Two systems are to be delivered within the next two years, and two more within three years. It is emphasized that this is the first such large contract of a German defense company with the Romanian government.
Image source: topwar.ru