German Strela-2 MANPADS for Ukraine had cracks in the fuel charge

Germany is actively supplying weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces in their war against Russia. Although, Berlin sent modern weapons technology, along with them sent weapons from the era of the Soviet Union, East Germany, and the Cold War.

The German online portal Der Spiegel also asks whether the thousands of 9K32 Strela-2 MANPADS in the old “East German warehouses” are operational? It turns out that 700 units of 9K32 Strela-2 MANPADS were not functional and did not work, which makes them defective.

According to a report by Der Spiegel, a large percentage of the 700 defective man-portable air-defense systems had “microcracks in the fuel charge of the munition, which led to corrosion/oxidation”. Another problem that investigative journalists found was the wooden crates, which are the weapon’s storage boxes. It turns out that many of them have raved to the point that “Bundeswehr soldiers in November were allowed to enter warehouses only with protective equipment.”

By law, the Federal Arms Export Service is responsible for the condition of export weapons. This is the service that must check each weapon for operational condition before it is exported from Germany.

After all, the 700 9K32 Strela-2 MANPADS did not leave for Ukraine precisely because of their incapacity. As the media in Germany write, it is perfectly normal for a 35-year-old unused and stored weapon to have a defect that prevents it from being used. It is assumed that in the coming months Germany will destroy the defective 9K32 Strela-2 MANPADS.

However, this incident raises a troubling question – whether everything that is sent to help Ukraine from the Soviet era and Soviet production, which remained for decades in warehouses, is operationally functional for fighting? Because not only did Germany sends such weapons, but half of Europe, especially the countries of the former socialist camp.