German Marder IFVs to Be Sent in Three Weeks

A little update on weapons being sent to Ukraine. Now, this was announced a while ago, but we now have a time frame of when Germany’s Rheinemetal Marders will be sent to Ukraine. Germany said they will be ready to deliver the Marder in as little as three weeks. The developer, Rheinemetal said they will be able to make around 100 Marders available in the medium term, with the first ones ready in a few weeks. So, they won’t all be arriving at once, rather, it appears the plan is to stagger the deliveries and send them as when they are available. This is quite useful to Ukraine as it ensures a steady supply of replacement vehicles coming into the country. The Marder is an old vehicle, first entering service in the 1970s but is still in service with the German army.

It can carry three crew plus 6 passengers and is armed with a 20mm autocannon and some versions can be fitted with a MILAN missile launcher. It also featurs two gun ports on either side which can be used to provide additional fire by the mounted infantry—Marder versions 1A1 and 1A2 are fitted with this as Marder 1A3 and above have extra armor and storage instead.

They have been used in combat in Afghanistan, notably defending a German outpost against the Taliban in 2009. German troops have spoken highly of the vehicle.