In 2022, the Federal Government of Germany has approved arms exports evaluated in 8.35 euros in total, the Ukrainian share amongst that is 2.24 billion euros. In all totality, it is the second-largest provision of military aid in the past 30 years for Germany. The largest one was in 2021 when the summary of all the arms exports combined was 9.35 billion, Der Spiegel reports.
Precisely speaking, the list of weapons with a price tag of 2.24 billion includes 30 Gepard anti-aircraft guns, 14 PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers, five MARS II artillery rocket launchers and only one IRIS-T air defense system.
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According to German estimates, it looks like the most exported weapons Ukraine bought from Berlin. For comparison, in roughly converted currencies, the share of the Netherlands is €1.83 billion, the USA's is €863 million, and Great Britain's is €249 million.
But the Spiegel journalists point out that the federal government includes in Germany's arms export statistics both actually completed deliveries and the approved contracts that have yet to be fulfilled. For example, the lion's share of the €9.35 billion stats of 2021 arms sales comes from a €4.4 billion package of weapons ordered by Egypt, which includes warships and air defense systems and is still in progress and has a way to go yet to actually be fulfilled.
In addition, the statistics may include systems and components for the joint production of weapons with other countries. This way, for example, the estimate of €1 billion in exports to Great Britain can be explained by the joint project on the manufacture of wheeled Boxer combat vehicles for the British Army.
Finally, when the German government calculates the weapons provided to Ukraine in 2022, it takes into account not only the lethal aid and equipment that has already reached Ukraine but also those weapons and ammunition that are still in production and will be delivered in the future.
All these factors should be considered when we try to make an assessment of the volumes of military aid provided by Germany to Ukraine.
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