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Amid news that a giant convoy of Russian troops is advancing slowly toward the Ukrainian capital Kiev, and daily reports of bombings and casualties, Germany decided to send defensive weapons to the former Soviet republic, including Strela light-air surface-to-air missiles, or MANPADS.
However, there may be a problem because, according to some local media, a large portion of these missiles are no longer functional as they have long been left to rot in storage facilities.
Earlier, it was claimed that the European country would send a total of 2,700 Strela missiles, although delivery has not yet been approved. Soviet-made missiles belonged to the National People’s Army (NVA) of what was once called the German Democratic Republic (GDR) or East Germany. The question is whether these missiles still work, and according to the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel, they are absolutely not in good condition.
About 700 missiles in delivery are no longer operational, Der Spiegel reported, and this was later confirmed by the daily Bild. The Federal Office for Equipment Exports must inspect the material before the missile delivery is approved by the Federal Security Council. Reports noted that the missiles were at least 35 years old and were blocked from use in 2012 due to “small cracks in the propulsion load of the ammunition, which led to oxidation corrosion.”
Der Spiegel also pointed out that the wooden boxes in which the missiles were stored were so moldy that Bundeswehr soldiers in November were allowed to enter the depots, only with protective equipment.
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