Remember when the US bought five dozen powerful anti-aircraft guns for Ukraine?

Anti-aircraft guns are one of the most important items Ukraine has needed to fend off Russian missile and drone attacks, which is why the United States bought Kyiv dozens of systems when it still had the money to do so.

The United States bought roughly five dozen anti-aircraft guns from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in November 2023 with the intention of sending the weapons to assist Ukraine according to a report from the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. 

De Telegraaf cited unnamed sources but reported that the U.S. Department of Defense acquired 60 German-designed Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns from Jordan at a price tag of €110 million euros or about $120 million dollars. 

The Netherlands sold these particular Gepards to Jordan in 2013 for €21 million euros according to De Telegraaf, and a spokesperson from the Dutch Defense Ministry said the anti-aircraft guns were sold at a fair price at the time. 

Europe’s geopolitical situation has changed since the invasion of Ukraine and that has put a premium on weapon systems like the Gepard because of how effective it is in the field at protecting against drone, helicopter, and aircraft attacks. 

The Gepard is a German-designed anti-aircraft weapon developed more than fifty years ago that first entered service in the 1970s. The Gepard was originally made to counter planes and helicopters according to The Kyiv Independent. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Leger Film- en Fotodienst (LFFD)

However, the German anti-aircraft gun has proven to be an extremely effective weapon against drones, especially the types being used by Russia in Ukraine, the former Dutch Brigadier General Han Bouwmeester told De Telegraaf. 

“It arguably is the best self-propelled anti-aircraft gun in the world,” wrote Forbes’ David Axe about the Gepard, adding that one former commander of the anti-aircraft gun said it could even lock onto birds. 

The reason why the Gepard is such an effective weapon on the battlefield is because of the vehicle's dual pair of radar-guided 35-millimeter autocannons, which are mounted on top of a German-designed Leopard 1 tank chassis. 

The Kyiv Independent reported that a Gepard's gun turret can fire roughly 550 rounds per minute, noting that the anti-aircraft weapon was a more cost-effective system for countering drones in Ukraine's airspace than its other armaments. 

Using a weapon like the American-made Patriot missile defense system or the German IRIS-T missile defense system would be impractical against small drones like Russia’s Shaheds and Lancets due to the cost imbalance. 

However, the Gepard does come with its own unique drawbacks. First, the systems are quite old. Axe noted that the youngest versions of the anti-aircraft weapons are a shocking 43 years old. This can make finding serviceable Gepards tough. 

In June 2023, European Pravda revealed that an American company known as Global Military Products secured a contract from the United States government for more than $118 million dollars to purchase and supply Gepards to Ukraine. 

It was reported that the procurement and work on the Gepards would be happening in Amman, Jordan with an estimated date of completion being quoted as May 2024. It is unclear if this contract was connected to the recent U.S. purchase. 

Another major issue with the Gepard, one fairly specific to Ukraine, is the lack of ammunition available for the anti-aircraft guns, something that has become an increasingly worrying problem as Russia has ramped up its own arms production. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Baak, Ab (AVDKL)

David Axe noted that Switzerland has a monopoly on the production of new ammo for the Gepard and had been reluctant to ship the ammo to Ukraine, an issue that makes getting supplies for Ukraine's Gepards difficult. 

The Swiss government has previously declined to sell any weapons to Ukraine, citing the alpine country’s neutrality. However, a workaround to provide Gepard ammo to Ukraine was eventually put into place. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Hans-Hermann Bühling

Germany paid the German defense firm Rheinmetall to set up a new production line that could make Gepard ammunition. Axe reported that the first shipments of ammo from this new production source were set to be delivered in September 2023.