Germany pledges $1.1B military aid package to Ukraine flush with drone interceptors

German Chancellor Freidrich Merz and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky address media in Kyiv (German Chancellor's Office)

BELFAST — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has announced a new round of military aid for Ukraine, valued at approximately €1 billion ($1.1 billion), to include turbojet-powered drone interceptors, standoff weapons and space-based technology.

The announcement was made during a surprise visit to Kyiv on Sunday, where Merz said he refused to be intimidated by an “escalation of Russia’s war of aggression,” after Moscow destroyed a bridge in the city earlier in the day.

“Significant technical breakthroughs have already been achieved in recent weeks” with regard to the interceptors “and these are now accelerating production,” Merz said during a press briefing with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “This will strengthen Ukrainian air defenses quickly and noticeably.”

The UK Guardian newspaper reported that German “officials” said “company executives” who travelled with Merz as part of the visit, had “signed 14 agreements” with Kyiv, totaling roughly €6.6 billion. It added that supplies included Diehl-produced IRIS-T air defense missiles, Hensoldt-made radar systems and Quantum Systems-manufactured jet-powered drone interceptors.

“[S]everal tens of thousands of Quantum Systems interceptor drones … will be produced in Ukraine and deployed to counter Russia’s intensifying campaign of drone attacks,” said the firm in a Sunday statement.

Quantum Systems further shared that the interceptors have been developed by the “Ukrainian team at Quantum WIY Industries to help protect cities, civilian facilities and critical infrastructure from enemy drone attacks and integrate into Quantum Systems’ MOSAIC UXS software suite.” Launched in April, WIY is a joint venture comprising Quantum and Ukrainian manufacturer WIY Drones.

The move from Merz comes as Russia has increasingly relied on deploying Russian Geran turbojet-powered drones against Ukraine. The one-way attack aircraft is a license-built variant of Iran’s Shahed drone.

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Analysis from the Institute for Science and International Security think tank found that Russia launched “at least 5,166 Shahed-type UAVs, including decoys” during the month of August. In response, Ukraine “shot down or suppressed” roughly 4,288 of the uncrewed systems, added the September report.

Additionally, the CSIS think tank claimed in separate analysis, that the “ single clearest illustration of the Geran’s rapid development cycle is the progression of its satellite-navigation antennas to make it increasingly resilient to methods of electronic warfare.”

Beyond frontline drone developments, Merz also insisted that Russia’s hybrid and sabotage attacks across Europe will not be tolerated.

“We are acting,” he said. “Russia must know that we will take steps to defend ourselves against any further escalation. This applies to the shadow fleet in the Baltic and North Seas. It applies to flights violating our airspace. It applies to drone attacks.” Berlin blamed Moscow for an August incident at Leipzig airport , where a Russian drone carrying explosives was found. On Saturday, Russia’s foreign ministry also reissued a warning calling on “ foreign nationals and diplomatic personnel ” to get out of Kyiv. The “Russian Federation continue to carry out systematic and sustained strikes against military targets in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities,” as a response to Ukrainian attacks against our “civilian population and infrastructure,” added the ministry’s statement. By way of reply, Western officials have been quick to counter threats against its diplomats. “Together with other Heads of Mission in Kyiv we take note with concern of the Russian MFA’s threat against diplomats and foreign citizens in Ukraine,” said Geoff Brown, Australian Ambassador to Ukraine on X. “ We stay in Kyiv .”

德国总理弗里德里希·默茨和乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基在基辅向媒体发表讲话（德国总理府）

贝尔法斯特——德国总理弗里德里希·默茨宣布向乌克兰提供新一轮军事援助，价值约 10 亿欧元（11 亿美元），其中包括涡轮喷气式无人机拦截器、防区外武器和天基技术。

梅尔茨周日突访基辅时宣布了这一消息。他表示，在莫斯科当天早些时候炸毁该市一座桥梁后，他不会因“俄罗斯侵略战争的升级”而感到害怕。

梅尔茨在与乌克兰总统泽连斯基举行的联合新闻发布会上表示，拦截弹方面“近几周已经取得了重大技术突破，目前正在加速生产”。他补充说，“这将迅速而显著地加强乌克兰的防空能力。”

英国《卫报》报道称，德国“官员”表示，陪同梅尔茨访问的“公司高管”与基辅签署了14项协议，总价值约66亿欧元。报道还称，这些物资包括迪尔公司生产的IRIS-T防空导弹、亨索尔特公司生产的雷达系统以及量子系统公司生产的喷气式无人机拦截器。

“数万架量子系统拦截无人机……将在乌克兰生产，并部署用于对抗俄罗斯日益加剧的无人机袭击行动，”该公司在周日的一份声明中表示。

Quantum Systems公司进一步透露，这些拦截器由“Quantum WIY Industries的乌克兰团队”开发，旨在帮助保护城市、民用设施和关键基础设施免受敌方无人机袭击，并集成到Quantum Systems的MOSAIC UXS软件套件中。WIY成立于今年4月，是Quantum与乌克兰无人机制造商WIY Drones的合资企业。

默茨此举正值俄罗斯日益依赖部署俄罗斯“格朗”涡轮喷气式无人机攻击乌克兰之际。这款单向攻击机是伊朗“沙赫德”无人机的特许生产版本。

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科学与国际安全研究所的分析显示，俄罗斯在8月份至少发射了5166架“沙赫德”型无人机，其中包括诱饵机。9月份的报告补充说，作为回应，乌克兰“击落或压制”了约4288架此类无人机。

此外，CSIS智库在另一份分析报告中声称，“Geran快速发展周期的最明显例证是其卫星导航天线的改进，使其越来越能抵御电子战手段。”

除了前线无人机的发展，梅尔茨还强调，俄罗斯在欧洲各地发动的混合攻击和破坏活动是绝对不能容忍的。

“我们正在采取行动，”他说。“俄罗斯必须明白，我们将采取措施捍卫自身安全，防止事态进一步升级。这适用于波罗的海和北海的影子舰队，适用于侵犯我们领空的飞行，也适用于无人机袭击。”柏林指责莫斯科应对8月份发生在莱比锡机场的事件负责，当时一架携带爆炸物的俄罗斯无人机被发现。周六，俄罗斯外交部再次发出警告，呼吁“外国公民和外交人员”撤离基辅。该部声明还补充说，“俄罗斯联邦将继续对基辅和其他乌克兰城市的军事目标进行系统性和持续性的打击”，以回应乌克兰对我国“平民和基础设施”的袭击。作为回应，西方官员迅速反击了针对其外交官的威胁。 “我们与其他驻基辅使团团长一道，关切地注意到俄罗斯外交部对在乌克兰的外交官和外国公民的威胁，”澳大利亚驻乌克兰大使杰夫·布朗于X日表示。“我们留在基辅。”