The German armaments group Rheinmetall has announced that it intends to deliver 20 more Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine this summer.

According to Welt, the company confirmed the corresponding contract order announced in early June on Friday in Düsseldorf. The German government will pay for the previously stored equipment in Bundeswehr warehouses.

It means that Ukraine will receive 60 Marder vehicles: 40 from Rheinmetall and 20 from Bundeswehr warehouses.

Rheinmetall can make a further 60 available, and work on this is already underway at Rheinmetall's plants in Kassel (Hessen) and Unterlüß (Lower Saxony).

Also, under the German Government's Ringtausch programme, Greece will be receiving 40 Marder IFVs, which are also due to be delivered this summer. It is part of the so-called multilateral equipment exchange programme when NATO countries transfer Soviet-era heavy military equipment to Ukraine in exchange for surplus Western-made systems.

On Wednesday, it became known that Germany had provided Ukraine with a new batch of military assistance, including precision-guided munitions.