The German authorities cannot give an exact answer where they will take the 40 Marder BMPs promised to Ukraine by the end of March 2023. Der Spiegel writes about this with reference to sources in military, political and expert circles.
The publication notes that, according to documents released last week by the German Ministry of Defense, the government of the republic intends to use "both the reserves of industry and the Bundeswehr" to make the promised deliveries.
At the same time, the Rheinmetall defense concern, which produces these combat vehicles, has only 60 decommissioned Marder units, the modernization of which is "impossible to carry out within the deadlines specified by the government."
Thus, the majority of BMPs will have to be transferred from units in service with the German army.
At the same time, according to military sources, only 62% of the 370 Marder BMPs at the disposal of the German Armed Forces are operational. About 60 units are in poor condition and "used as a source of spare parts".