Germany to supply Ukraine with 40 Marder 1A3 fighting vehicles

The German government has commissioned Rheinmetall to supply 40 more Marder M1A3 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine.

Placed in August 2023, the order is worth a high double-digit million-euro amount. Rheinmetall is pressing ahead with work to overhaul these older vehicles and ensure that the latest lot of Marder IFVs can be delivered as per contract starting in 2023, Army Recognition reports.

This order brings the total number of Marder 1A3 IFVs to be supplied by Rheinmetall to Ukraine to 80. On 21 March 2023, the company already shipped the first 20 infantry fighting vehicles ordered by the German government for Ukraine. In addition, another 20 Rheinmetall IFVs were ordered in June 2023. These are currently being overhauled and delivered.

The vehicles being made available are overhauled Marder 1A3 IFVs formerly owned by the Bundeswehr. As early as spring 2022, Rheinmetall began restoring the infantry fighting vehicles to a state of immediate combat readiness at its own expense. Work is already underway at Rheinmetall’s plants in Kassel and Unterlüss. The Group can deliver up to 10 infantry fighting vehicles a month.

Developed for the Bundeswehr and still in service with the German Army, the Marder infantry fighting vehicle numbers among the most reliable weapons systems of its kind anywhere. Steadily modernized, the vehicle has undergone repeated combat upgrades in the course of its career.