{"id":12772,"date":"2026-04-24T05:16:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T05:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/12772\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T05:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T05:16:20","slug":"belgium-commits-refurbished-gepard-air-defense-systems-for-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/12772\/","title":{"rendered":"Belgium Commits Refurbished Gepard Air Defense Systems for Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Belgium has pledged<\/a> to deliver 15 overhauled Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine in support of the war-torn country\u2019s defense against Russia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The military aid will be facilitated as part of a 1-billion-euro ($1.1 billion) package<\/a> approved by the NATO country in early April, according<\/a> to local Belgian media.<\/p>\n

The weapons will be acquired from OIP Land Systems, a subsidiary of Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems, and refitted in Belgium before transfer.<\/p>\n

Brussels did not reveal associated values or shipment schedules tied to the project.<\/p>\n

Sources said<\/a> the platforms were part of Belgium\u2019s original fleet of 54 Gepard units, operated by the Belgian Army before being retired in the 2000s.<\/p>\n

The vehicles were later sold to Sabiex, which was subsequently acquired by OIP.<\/p>\n

The donation builds on a September 2025 strategy<\/a> by then-Ukrainian Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal, who discussed continued cooperation on Gepard systems with KNDS Deutschland Managing Director Ralf Ketzel.<\/p>\n

Talks covered supply, sustainment, and potential joint production, including plans for a joint venture with a local Ukrainian industry partner.<\/p>\n

KNDS, formerly known as Krauss-Maffei, developed the Gepard air defense system in the 1960s, basing the platform on the Leopard 1 main battle tank chassis.<\/p>\n

The tracked vehicle is armed with twin 35 mm autocannons carrying more than 300 anti-air rounds and 20 anti-tank rounds, supported by onboard radar to engage short-range airborne threats, as well as two 76-millimeter smoke grenades.<\/p>\n

It has an overall weight of 47.5 tons (95,000 pounds), a length of 8 meters (26 feet), and a capacity for a driver, a gunner, and a commander.<\/p>\n

The capability is equipped with an MTU engine with an output of over 800 horsepower for a top speed of 65 kilometers (40 miles) per hour and a range of 550 kilometers (342 miles).<\/p>\n

Despite its age, the Gepard has proven effective in Ukraine<\/a> against unmanned aerial systems and cruise missiles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Belgium has pledged to deliver 15 overhauled Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine in support of the war-torn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12773,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2970,2964,280,8599,7,8600,287,289,88,8601,292,2981],"class_list":{"0":"post-12772","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-belgium","8":"tag-air-defense","9":"tag-air-defense-system","10":"tag-armored-vehicles","11":"tag-arms","12":"tag-belgium","13":"tag-gepard","14":"tag-land-vehicles","15":"tag-military-vehicles","16":"tag-ukraine","17":"tag-ukraine-military-aid","18":"tag-vehicles","19":"tag-weapons"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116457988871385049","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}