Ukrainian Armed Forces showed how German Gepards in Ukraine hunt occupiers’ drones

Ukrainian Armed Forces showed how German Gepards in Ukraine hunt occupiers’ drones

Protecting the skies over Ukraine, German Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns stand alongside a variety of air defense systems. Fast-firing and accurate, they have proven themselves to be effective against Russian kamikaze drones.

In particular, with the help of Gepard, soldiers of the 39th Tactical Aviation Brigade are repelling enemy attacks. The Department of Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine showed how this happens on video.

"Cheetahs" protect the Ukrainian sky. Thanks to their rate of fire and accuracy, German Gepard anti-aircraft self-propelled guns effectively shoot down enemy drones terrorizing Ukrainians,” noted Stratcom, publishing a video of the 39th brigade.

Gepard is a German anti-aircraft self-propelled artillery unit produced by Krauss-Maffei in cooperation with other companies. It is designed to protect armored columns on the march and stationary objects from attacks from helicopters and airplanes at low and ultra-low altitudes day and night in all weather conditions and in conditions of intense counteraction to electronic warfare.

In the second half of the 1970s it entered service with Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, and is now used by Ukraine, Brazil, Jordan and Romania.

The Gepard self-propelled gun received its baptism of fire in the Russian-Ukrainian war back in 2022.

The Gepard’s chassis is similar to that of the Leopard tank, but the body armor of the anti-aircraft self-propelled gun is thinner. The crew consists of three people.

The installation is equipped with two radars: MPDR-12 target designation (located in the rear of the turret) and Albis cannon guidance (located in the front). MPDR-12 helps detect air targets at a distance of up to 15 km, the modified MPDR-18S radar has a detection range of up to 18 km.

Gepard features a high-performance fire control system, on-board navigation system, sighting devices for firing at air and ground or surface targets and a system of protection against the damaging elements of weapons of mass destruction. Some cars have a Siemens laser rangefinder.

The main armament of the Gepard anti-aircraft artillery mount is a pair of 35-mm Oerlikon KDA L/90 cannons. Each of them is capable of firing 550 rounds per hour, so the unit fires at a speed of 1,100 rounds per minute. Moreover, the system is capable of firing even if one of the guns is disabled.

The system’s ammunition load consists of 640 shells for hitting air targets and 40 shells for firing at ground targets. Switching between the supply of projectiles for hitting air and ground targets occurs from inside the tower.

Completely recharging the system from prepared tapes takes about 20 minutes.