Germany has delivered BATT UMG armored personnel carriers to Ukraine, which turned out to be unsuitable for combat operations and were purchased at inflated prices. This is stated in the Bild investigation.
At the end of May 2023, the German government announced the supply of 66 armored personnel carriers from the German concern FFG to Ukraine. These APCs weighing 10 tons were developed in the United States. They are produced in different countries of the world under an American license.
Delivery began in October. According to the German government, the Armed Forces have received 48 vehicles out of 66.
Bild journalists found out that these vehicles were unsuitable for frontline operations in Ukraine or even for use in combat. According to them, the transferred armored personnel carriers do not have anti-mine and anti-fragmentation protection against artillery, rocket and mortar fire, but only protection against small arms.
The German Ministry of Defense, for its part, claims that "Ukraine did not require enhanced mine protection at the time." However, an unnamed high-ranking Ukrainian official in a commentary to Bild denies this. According to the official, Ukraine would have liked to receive armored personnel carriers with mine protection, but "the Germans did not have them." Therefore, the Ukrainian side agreed to a lightly armored version for missions far from the front.
According to Bild, in addition to FFG, Rheinmetall also applied for this contract. At the same time, Rheinmetall offered heavily armored Fuchs, but the order was given to FFG, arguing that their product was "the most cost-effective solution that can also be quickly obtained."
As the investigation revealed, the German FFG transferred the order for all 66 vehicles to the American contractor The Armored Group (TAG). As a result, all the APCs were assembled at the TAG plant in the United Arab Emirates. From there, the armored vehicles were delivered to Ukraine with a stop in Germany. None of the APCs were assembled in Germany.
Bild journalists received the purchase agreement of BATT UMG. It shows that the vehicles delivered from Germany to Ukraine have a unit price of €185,000 to €208,000. However, secret documents from the German Federal Ministry of Defense, which the journalists also saw, show that the German department paid FFG €600,000 per vehicle.
