Germany has acknowledged, without formal announcement, that its RCH 155 howitzer is now in Ukraine. Visiting KNDS’s Kassel plant – the Franco-German defence firm – on July 21, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told employees the system “is very well received in Ukraine,” adding the first unit left for Ukraine two years earlier. Hartpunkt, which first reported the remark, called it an indirect confirmation; Bild’s early-August coverage, per Weltwoche, brought it wider attention.
Germany had already made the programme public, staging a symbolic handover of the first RCH 155 in Kassel in January 2025. Not previously confirmed was that trained systems are now in Ukraine; neither the German military, KNDS, nor Kyiv has formally addressed the remark. The RCH 155 pairs an automated gun turret with the Boxer 8×8 chassis, letting a two-person crew fire on the move at up to 100 km/h – intended to reduce counter-battery exposure, though no documented case ties this to Ukrainian operations.
The disclosure sits within a larger record of German support. As of mid-February 2026, Berlin had given Ukraine roughly €55 billion in military aid and €39 billion in civilian aid since February 2022 – Leopard tanks, Marder vehicles, IRIS-T and Patriot air defence, artillery and ammunition – while training 24,000 Ukrainian soldiers. Berlin calls itself Kyiv’s second-largest donor after the United States; Kiel Institute tracking broadly supports that ranking, though totals shift depending on whether commitments, allocations, or deliveries are measured.
For 2026, Germany has budgeted roughly €11.5 billion in continued military aid, intended to sustain artillery, air defence and drone deliveries through 2027. How many RCH 155 units have reached the front, and when the rest of Ukraine’s 54-unit order will arrive, remains undisclosed. The budget commitment is the clearer measure of Germany’s continued involvement in the war.
