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German weapons for Iraq

Spencer KimballSeptember 1, 2014

The German government has decided to deliver weapons and munitions worth a total of 70 million euros ($91 million) to Kurdish forces in northern Iraq. DW provides an overview of the weapons systems in question.

https://p.dw.com/p/1D4ZF
Peshmerga fighters 07.08.2014 Amerly
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

The weapons will be delivered in three tranches to a secure region of Iraq that has not been affected by the civil war, according to the German Defense Ministry. An initial partial delivery will leave Germany in the next two weeks and arrive in Irbil via Baghdad. The entire first delivery to northern Iraq will be completed by the end of September. The second and third deliveries will depend on the situation on the ground.

Berlin will send enough weapons to equip a brigade of 4,000 soldiers, according to Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Von der Leyen said parliamentary approval is not required for the weapons deliveries.

Training, if necessary, will take place in Germany. If that's not possible, training will occur either in Irbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdish region, or a third country. The deployment of German soldiers for the purpose of training Kurdish forces to use the weapons does not require a parliamentary mandate, according to the Defense Ministry.

First tranche:

4,000 G3 assault rifles; 1 million rounds of ammunition

20 MG3 heavy machine guns; 500,000 rounds of ammunition

4,000 P1 pistols; 500,000 rounds of ammunition

20 MILAN anti-tank weapons; 300 guided rockets

100 shoulder-fired Panzerfaust 3 rocket launchers; 1,250 rockets

20 heavy rocket launchers; 500 rockets

50 flare guns; 2,000 rounds

5,000 hand grenades

20 WOLF jeeps

10 lightly armored WOLF jeeps

20 UNIMOG trucks

Sturmgewehr G3
G3 assault rifleImage: picture-alliance/dpa

Second tranche:

4,000 G3 assault rifles; 1 million rounds of ammunition

20 MG3 heavy machine guns; 500,000 rounds of ammunition

4,000 P1 pistols; 500,000 rounds of ammunition

10 MILAN anti-tank weapons; 200 guided rockets

100 shoulder-fired Panzerfaust 3 rocket launchers; 1,250 rockets

20 heavy rocker launchers; 500 rockets

50 flare guns; 2,000 rounds

5,000 hand grenades

20 WOLF jeeps

10 lightly armored WOLF jeeps

20 UNIMOG trucks

Symolbild - MG3
MG3 heavy machine gunImage: CC-BY-SA-Sonaz

Third tranche:

8,000 G36 assault rifles; 4 million rounds of ammunition

1 tanker truck

5 DINGO-1 armored vehicles

Bundeswehr Reservist with G36
G36 assault rifleImage: picture-alliance/dpa

Total weapons, munitions, and vehicles:

8,000 G3 assault rifles; 2 million rounds of ammunition

8,000 G36 assault rifles; 4 million rounds of ammunition

40 MG3 heavy machine guns; 1 million rounds of ammunition

8,000 P1 pistols; 1 million rounds of ammunition

30 MILAN anti-tank weapons; 500 guided rockets

200 shoulder-fired Panzerfaust 3 rocket launchers; 2,500 rockets

40 heavy rocket lauchers; 1,000 rockets

100 flare guns; 4,00 rounds

10,000 hand grenades

MILAN anti-tank weapons
MILAN anti-tank weaponImage: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Schneider/Bundeswehr

40 WOLF jeeps

20 lightly armored WOLF jeeps

40 UNIMOG trucks

1 tanker truck

5 DINGO-1 armored vehicles