February 2, 2025
German defense giant’s perspective on what should be the top-priority development as it starts a venture in Ukraine
Unique version of the Gepard anti-aircraft tank will be created in Ukraine as part of a joint project with KNDS Deutschland, the company’s CEO Ralf Ketzel told Defense Express in an exclusive interview among other details of future cooperation between the European defense giant and the Ukrainian defense-industrial complex.
The updated Gepard self-propelled air defense system will see improved target observation capabilities: “We have the latest version of the Gepard, but we also have a batch of older machines. We would be happy if, within this partnership, we could create a Ukrainian version with an upgraded radar and an enhanced tracking system,” Ketzel said.
The choice of the Gepard as the first step in developing the architecture of future cooperation with the Ukrainian defense industry, he explained as follows:
“The Leopard tanks, the PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers, and other systems are already used by the Ukrainian Defense Forces and may be somewhat simpler to maintain than the Gepard fire control system. We know that their technical maintenance is done either in Ukraine by our partner company Rheinmetall in the framework of their joint venture, or outside the country at our plants and other facilities.”
On the other hand, “when it comes to Gepard, KNDS Deutschland has a special format of interaction with Ukraine about servicing this rather complex and important system. We were the first German company to supply Gepard to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the first German company to provide an armored system.”
Essentially, what these words mean is that KNDS Deutschland considers the supply of Gepards to be its flagship project in partnership with Ukraine, so it was logical to make it the cornerstone of collaboration with the Ukrainian defense industry.
Improving Gepard will proceed in the following configuration: KNDS Deutschland transfers all the necessary technological developments and documentation to a Ukrainian partner enterprise, and the local company shares its technologies back with German partners, accordingly.
Although the name of the Ukrainian firm participating in the Gepard project is not disclosed at the moment, Ralf Ketzel hinted at how the partner enterprise was selected. The selection process started during the Munich Security Conference 2023; KNDS Deutschland was looking specifically for a company with competencies in the air defense segment.
What he described as an “administrative process” took longer than expected, but before making all final decisions, the KNDS Deutschland management met with representatives from Ukraine’s military and government leadership.
Speaking of the prospects of this cooperation, Ralf Ketzel noted:
“Now we must agree on how we will interact further because we want to supply the entire system to Ukraine. And really create the main Gepard service center here, a center of excellence for this system. To hear that it finds support. And also to receive confirmation that they (Ukrainian leadership – ed.) want its creation just as much as they did nine months ago when we first started talking about it. This is the key aspect.”
I am glad that Rheinmetall and KNDS Deutschland have not pulled out of Ukraine and/or stopped their cooperation with the country after the CEO of Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger was a target of a mafia assassination attempt. My hat goes off to him and Ralf Ketzel, who might also be in the crosshairs.
Very nice. Anything that will help defend against drones and missiles is invaluable. Not to sound like a broken record though, Taurus would be more effective in the short term.
Maybe Merz will send some when he’s chancellor.
When is the election?
On the 23rd of this month.