Germany targets air defense ramp-up as Berlin corrals allies behind Ukraine

The German defense ministry said that Denmark and the Netherlands are in discussions over financial support for IAAD. “Several other partners have also agreed to intensively examine whether they can also supply systems or provide resources,” the ministry added.

While the German government has come under fire for refusing to donate Taurus cruise missiles to Kyiv, it has instead sought to increase provisions of air defense systems.

In March, Berlin confirmed a €1.3 billion order for four new Patriot surface-to-air missile systems, partly to replace the two sent to Kyiv already. Earlier this month, Germany then pledged a third Patriot system, while on Saturday Bloomberg reported that Berlin is mulling a further order with manufacturer Raytheon.

By also requesting financial pledges under the IAAD initiative, Berlin is mimicking a program launched by the Czech Republic — also first reported by POLITICO — to jointly finance the purchase of artillery ammunition on the world market for onward delivery to Ukraine.

That ammunition program has raised hundreds of millions of euros so far, with Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands amongst the major contributors.

Over recent weeks, however, Russia has shown its artillery supremacy with a series of bombardments on Ukrainian cities.