DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

NATO has just completed an extraordinary survey of the remaining munition stocks, a NATO official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "Those NATO (munitions targets) that we set, and each ally has a specific target, those were not being met for the most part (before the Ukraine war)," the official said. "I would be absolutely gobsmacked if the targets…were not increased," said the NATO official. After the Cold War, the production of ammunition had turned "quite artisanal", said the NATO official. "I don't necessarily think that within the next year our stockpile levels will increase massively," the NATO official said.

☆ Germany approves Leopard 1 delivery to Ukraine, in talks with Qatar over Gepards -newspaper
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The German government has approved the delivery of Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine from industrial stocks and is in talks over purchasing back 15 Gepard tanks from Qatar to send to Kyiv, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Friday. The delivery of the Leopard tanks to Ukraine could happen anytime once the tanks are repaired, the newspaper reported, citing government sources. Rheinmetall and Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft (FFG) want to recondition dozens of Leopards 1 tanks and could supply them to Ukraine if Kyiv was willing to buy them, it added. "The Gepards have proven themselves very well in the war in Ukraine. If we could get more from partners here, that would definitely help the Ukrainians," new German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

☆ Brazil's Lula cold-shoulders Germany's Scholz on Ukraine support
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hold a joint news conference at the Planalto Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil January 30, 2023. It was the third time on his South American tour that Scholz failed to rally strong support for the Ukrainian war effort. "I think Russia made the classic mistake of invading another country's territory, so Russia is wrong," Lula told reporters. Lula said Brazil would not provide ammunition to Ukraine for German-made Gepard anti-aircraft guns, as reportedly requested by Germany. Lula said Brazil will work with other countries to help achieve peace in Ukraine, as his country has not taken sides.

On the final leg of his South American tour, Scholz on Monday became the first foreign leader to visit Lula since his inauguration. But he grew stony-faced as his fellow leftist leader expounded his views on the Ukraine war. Lula also said Brazil would not provide ammunition to Ukraine for German-made Gepard anti-aircraft guns, as reportedly requested by Germany. In both countries, Scholz visited memorials to the victims of their military dictatorships that he said underscored the need to fight for democracy and freedom. In Brasilia, he expressed his full solidarity for Lula and Brazil at large after Bolsonaro supporters earlier this month stormed government buildings.

In 2022, Rheinmetall made some 60,000 to 70,000 rounds each of tank and artillery shells, according to Papperger, who said production could be boosted immediately. A few days before the meeting with the new defence minister, Papperger pushed for an increase of Germany's defence budget. "The 51 billion euros in the defence budget will not suffice to purchase everything that is needed. Even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Germany was 20 billion euros short of reaching NATO's target for ammunitions stockpiling, according to a defence source. To plug the munitions gap alone, Papperger estimates the Bundeswehr (German armed forces) would need to invest three to four billion euros per year.

☆ Tank maker Rheinmetall raises sales view as Ukraine war boosts demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Shares in Rheinmetall, which together with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann makes the Leopard tanks Germany is under pressure from Kyiv and some allies to send to Ukraine, have risen 170% in the past year. For 2022 the company expects sales of 6.5 billion euros. A company spokesperson told media group RND that it could deliver 139 Leopard tanks to Ukraine if needed. It could also supply 88 older Leopard 1 tanks, the spokesperson said, without giving a timeframe for potential delivery. It said positives, including mid-term defence spending, had been priced into the stock.

☆ Explainer: How to correctly re-export German tanks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The following explains defence export rules in Germany and other countries and the way such deals have been handled previously:HOW DO GOVERNMENTS CORRECTLY RE-EXPORT GERMAN TANKS? The same goes for cases where the weapons may be used to wage a war of aggression or the re-export approval might violate Germany's obligations under international law. As defence exports are a touchy issue in Germany, foreign countries usually do not directly submit a formal request for re-export to the German authorities. If not, the foreign country abstains from submitting a formal re-export request, and no diplomatic harm is done. GERMANY'S HIGH HURDLES FOR DEFENCE EXPORTSGermany has one of the toughest defence export regimes in the world – largely due to its bloody pre-1945 past.

☆ Ukraine keeps patching up its power grid. But Russia’s barrage could force more Ukrainians to flee as winter bites
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Tim Lister Olga Voitovych Victoria Butenko | Tim Lister | Olga Voitovych | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The result is a grinding battle of attrition: Barrages of Russian missiles fly across Ukraine, and Ukrainian power engineers work for days in freezing temperatures to restore power. “By the nature of the attacks we see that Russian missiles are directed by Russian power engineers,” says Tymoshenko. 15 gigawatts of Ukraine’s power capacity have been taken out, compared to the pre-war capacity of 56 gigawatts (GW) of power, according to Ukrenergo. Tymoshenko told CNN that Ukraine’s power system has been part of the continental network since March after synchronization of the systems. “And this, of course, will encourage us to further technological development of the power system after victory,” he says.

☆ Germany to send seven additional Gepard tanks to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Germany is preparing to deliver seven Gepard tanks to Ukraine, adding to the 30 air-defence tanks that are already being used to fight against the Russian army, according to a German government website. According to Spiegel magazine, which first reported the number of additional tanks, the seven Gepards, which were initially destined for the scrap pile, should arrive in Ukraine in Spring 2023 and are currently being repaired by Munich-based arms manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW). The German government also aims to send more ammunition for the Gepards along with the additional tanks, Spiegel reported. Supply of ammunition for the Gepard has proven problematic as Switzerland, which has stocks of ammunition, refuses to supply it, citing its neutral status. Writing by Miranda Murray, editing by Rachel More and Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Scholz welcomes Qatar LNG deal as 'building block' for German energy security
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Conocophillips FollowBERLIN, Nov 29 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed a new deal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar on Tuesday as a "building block" towards his country's energy security and a sign that Berlin had many different countries to tap for supplies. QatarEnergy and ConocoPhillips (COP.N) signed two sales and purchase agreements to export 2 million tonnes of LNG annually to Germany for at least 15 years from 2026, as Berlin pursues new energy partnerships after a plunge in gas from Russia. "I am very confident that this is another important building block in a house that we have already built to a large extent," Scholz told a briefing, adding that global problems should not lead to countries raising trade barriers. Scholz said he had spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, including about the prospect of sending Gepard tanks to Ukraine. Reporting by Matthias Williams and Andreas Rinke Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ancient anti-aircraft guns are taking on a new mission amid Russia's war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Russia and Ukraine have both turned to older anti-aircraft guns to bolster their air defenses. During World War II, half of the Allied bombers shot down over Germany may have victims of "flak" — a shortened version of a German word for 1930s-era anti-aircraft guns. SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty ImagesRussia and Ukraine are both using Soviet-made S-60 anti-aircraft guns that date to the 1940s. Older anti-aircraft guns also offer a political advantage. Even as more sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons have been deployed, anti-aircraft guns have remained useful, albeit in more limited roles.

☆ Ukraine is scrambling to shoot down Russian missiles and drones. Here are the weapons other countries are sending in to help.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Here are some of the air-defense systems that countries are sending Ukraine to take on that threat. The US, Britain, and several other countries are sending Ukraine a variety of air-defense systems. Here are some that are being supplied to Ukraine:NASAMSThe National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System. Norwegian Ministry of DefenseParticularly significant is that rather than custom-designed surface-to-air missiles, NASAMS fires existing air-to-air missiles that are modified to be launched from the ground. Shan Yuqi/Xinhua via Getty ImagesUkraine has already received the first of four German IRIS-T short-range anti-aircraft missile systems.

☆ Swiss again reject German request to re-export Swiss ammunition to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ZURICH, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Switzerland has again rejected an appeal from Germany to allow it to re-export Swiss-made ammunition to Ukraine, the government said on Thursday, saying such a move would violate Swiss neutrality. But Swiss Economy Minister Guy Parmelin gave the same response the Swiss government had given in June when it rejected an earlier request. "As the legal situation remains unchanged, approval of a transfer of Swiss war materiel by Germany to Ukraine is still not possible," it added. The 35mm shells were originally supplied by Swiss companies to the German army decades ago on the condition that it could not re-export the munitions without Swiss approval. Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Noele Illien and Michael ShieldsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fact Check-Photo of Gepard tank in action was captured before Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Some social media users are falsely claiming an image of a Gepard tank firing at a mortar was captured in action in Ukraine. Thousands of people have interacted with the Oct. 18 posts on Twitter and Facebook which include the photo and claim: “The first visual confirmation of the combat use of German ‘Gepard’ in Ukraine” (here and here). While Germany did send Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine in August to help fend off the Russian invasion that began on Feb. 24, the photo on social media predates that conflict (here and nL5N2XC3SK). Reuters traced the photo back to July 2021 when it was uploaded to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) (here). The photo was captured in Poland before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

☆ German weapons are flowing to Ukraine, but Kyiv says Berlin's 'abstract fears and excuses' are getting in the way
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Germany's seeming reluctance to give heavy weapons to Ukraine has drawn criticism in Kyiv and Berlin. Despite Berlin promising to supply a variety of arms to help Ukraine repel Russia, many of those weapons still have not arrived. "Disappointing signals from Germany while Ukraine needs Leopards and Marders now — to liberate people and save them from genocide," Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter in mid-September. "Not a single rational argument on why these weapons cannot be supplied, only abstract fears and excuses. Many Germans would rather not think about the last time German tanks clanked through Ukraine.

Search resuls for: "Gepard"

15 mentions found