{"id":1358770,"date":"2022-03-04T14:07:52","date_gmt":"2022-03-04T19:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1358770"},"modified":"2022-03-04T14:07:55","modified_gmt":"2022-03-04T19:07:55","slug":"sending-obsolete-missiles-to-ukraine-germany-finds-hundreds-too-old-to-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sending-obsolete-missiles-to-ukraine-germany-finds-hundreds-too-old-to-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Sending Obsolete Missiles to Ukraine, Germany Finds Hundreds Too Old to Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsending-obsolete-missiles-to-ukraine-germany-finds-hundreds-too-old-to-fire%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1358770&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1238684473-1-e1646407699308-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">Germany\u2019s Defence Ministry has declined to comment after the press learnt on Thursday that around 700 of the missiles they planned to send to Ukraine were found to be so old they had become\u00a0inoperable.<\/p>\n<p>Berlin had planned to send Ukraine 2,700 \u2018Strela\u2019 rockets dating back to the German Communist era, as part of the weapons package Germany had prepared to help Kyiv fend off the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2022\/03\/03\/ukraine-refugee-count-hits-1-million-as-russias-invasion-rolls-on\/\">Russian invasion,<\/a>\u00a0but at least 700 have been revealed to be defective, with the boxes they\u2019re stored in being described as \u201cmouldy\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>The rockets had initially been designed for use by the National People\u2019s Army of the Soviet-controlled German Democratic Republic (GDR), which ceased to exist in 1990, following the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-europe-50013048\">liberation<\/a> of East Germany from communist rule.<\/p>\n<p>A classified military document that was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/de-de\/nachrichten\/politik\/krieg-gegen-russland-ukraine-bittet-bundeswehr-um-weitere-waffen\/ar-AAUB1oH\">leaked<\/a> by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spiegel.de\/politik\/deutschland\/strela-raketen-der-bundeswehr-weisen-erhebliche-maengel-auf-a-5260e48f-5977-4f0d-8f79-dac5f24ced94\">Spiegel magazine<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/world-news\/2022\/03\/04\/anti-aircraft-missiles-germany-offered-ukraine-dont-work\/\">reported<\/a> per The Telegraph has said that: \u201cOwing to the obsolescence of the rocket motor, the Strela missile is no longer safe to handle, so it can no longer be fired\u201d. As a result of neglect, small cracks had formed on the rockets, which led to corrosion.<\/p>\n<p>The German army, known as the\u00a0Bundeswehr, have not used the GDR\u2019s weapons since 2014 citing \u201csecurity reasons\u201d, and since then the wooden boxes holding the missiles have rotted and become covered in mould \u2013 to the extent that soldiers are only allowed to enter the rooms storing the rockets if they wear protective clothing, German magazine\u00a0<em>Focus<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.focus.de\/politik\/ausland\/bericht-deutsche-strela-raketen-fuer-die-ukraine-mit-teils-erheblichen-maengeln_id_62448496.html\">reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>The Bundeswehr has suggested that the reason for the Strela rockets\u2019 poor condition was as a consequence of not being able to secure a contract with specialist storage companies, but the German Defence Ministry has however not yet released a statement on this matter.<\/p>\n<p>Of the maximum of 2,000 rockets that are still combat-ready, it has been reported that the\u00a0Bundeswehr no longer have the handpieces that are needed to fire the ordinance, with the German military hoping the Ukrainians have access to them or they may not be able to use the shoulder-fired missiles.<\/p>\n<p>Germany had initially declined to send lethal aid to Ukraine, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/news\/germany-to-send-lethal-munitions-to-ukraine-in-policy-reversal\/\">U-turning<\/a> on their decision on the 28th of February as a result of international pressure, which marked a historic shift from the central-European nation as they reversed a policy preventing them from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/news\/germanys-move-to-help-arm-ukraine-signals-historic-shift\/\">sending weapons<\/a> to active war zones that had been in place since the Second World War.<\/p>\n<p>Before Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, Germany had provided 5,000 helmets to Kyiv, a move that was widely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/news\/in-a-major-shift-germany-will-send-weapons-to-ukraine\/\">mocked<\/a> by some as poor even as a token gesture.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The approval of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia is outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel\u2019s \u201cbiggest mistake\u201d, the former president of the EU Council said in comments backing up warnings from former President Donald Trump. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MtjINbgPL8\">https:\/\/t.co\/MtjINbgPL8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartNews\/status\/1465652116870021121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 30, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Following the decision to send arms to Ukraine, Germany also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2022\/02\/28\/trump-vindicated-germany-to-finally-pay-its-nato-spending-requirements\/\">committed<\/a> to spending\u00a0at least 2 per cent of its GDP on defence spending, which means it will finally meet its NATO defence spending requirements, a policy that former U.S. President Donald Trump pushed for throughout his premiership.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom now on, more than 2 per cent of our GDP will be invested in our defence\u201d,\u00a0German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced, which will equate to an additional \u20ac100 billion ($109 billion) in 2022\u2019s budget for the Bundeswehr.<\/p>\n<p>After much reluctance, Germany also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2022\/02\/22\/german-chancellor-sholz-blocks-approval-for-russias-nord-stream-2-pipeline\/\">blocked<\/a>\u00a0the approval process for Nord Stream 2, the\u00a0764 mile-long natural gas pipeline that would connect Russia and Germany \u2013 worth <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-europe-60131520#:~:text=Nord%20Stream%202%20is%20a,and%20was%20completed%20last%20September.\">\u20ac10 billion<\/a> \u2013 which former President Trump had warned against suggesting that it would leave\u00a0Germany and other European Union member states as \u201ccaptives\u201d of Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Germany\u2019s Defence Ministry has declined to comment after the press learnt on Thursday that around 700 of the missiles they planned to send to Ukraine were found to be so<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1358770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1358770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1358770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1358770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1358770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1358770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1358770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}