Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).
The Gepard (German for Cheetah) is a Cold War era self-propelled anti-aircraft gun system based on the German Leopard-1 battle tank. The Gepard uses radar guided 35mm auto-cannons. When the non-declared Cold War ended in 1991, Romania left the Warsaw Pact and eventually joined NATO. Romania acquired 43 Gepard 1A2s from the reunified Germany. Officially the Gepards were ‘donated’ to Romania, under a 1998 agreement, finally being delivered in 2004.
Ukraine Crisis: February 2014 (NATO backed coup) to present.
USA photo by Staff Sergeant Steven M. Colvin, 26OCT2015.
U.S. Army video by Staff Sergeant Michael Zahnow, July 2017:
U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Timothy Villareal, 15JUL2017.
Gepard shoot-em-up video, by Laurens Vermeire, July 2017:
Romanian Gepards on Bemowo Piskie Training Area, Poland, 02FEB2021. USA photo by Staff Sergeant Elizabeth O. Bryson.
USA photo by Staff Sergeant Elizabeth O. Bryson, 02FEB2021.
USA photo by Specialist Osvaldo Fuentes, 30JUN2021.
USA photo by Sergeant First Class Adrian Patoka, 27JUL2021.
Sky Guardians fire their anti-aircraft Gepards during a live fire at Bemowo Piskie Training Area, Poland, 27JUL2021. USA photo by Specialist Osvaldo Fuentes.
NATO promotional video (by U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Adrian Patoka), Romanian Gepards night-fire over Poland, July 2021:
In August 2021, Forbes reported that “NATO Is Desperate For Front-Line Air-Defenses. Romania’s Old Gepards Are The Best It’s Got.” Which actually is not good.
Quick U.S. Army video by First Class Adrian Patoka, Romanian Gepard in Poland, 24AUG2021:
Bemowo Piskie Training Area, Poland, 03NOV2021. USA photo by Private First Class Jacob Bradford.
USA photo by Private First Class Jacob Bradford, 09NOV2021.
Romanian Gepards light-up the night sky over Poland. USA photo by Private First Class Jacob Bradford, 24NOV2021.
In April 2022, it was reported that Germany was sending Ukraine what remained of its mothballed Gepards.
In February 2023, Romanian news media reported that gossip about Romanian Gepards deploying to the border with Moldova was “fake news”.
Also in February 2023, Rheinmetall announced it would re-start production of 35mm ammo for the Gepard.
On 14MAR2023, it was reported that Germany delivered the 34th Gepard to Ukraine.
NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group-Poland/Task Force Ivy (Croatia, Poland, Romania, United Kingdom, United States) conducted a Combined Arms Live Fire EXercise (CALFEX) at Bemowo Piskie Training Area, Poland, on 05AUG2023. Romania brought their German made Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, U.S. Army video by Sergeant Alex Soliday:
Battle for Ukraine: 
NATO A-W-A-C-S DEPLOY TO UKRAINE!
From Cold War to Battle for Ukraine: 
CHALLENGER, A CHILD OF SERENDIPITY?
NATO Vehicle I-D: 
ARMURĂ ROMÂNIA
