BERLIN (REUTERS) - Germany has approved the sale of 100 tank howitzers worth €1.7 billion (S$2.4 billion) to Ukraine, magazine Der Spiegel reported, citing a spokesman for manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.

The company has already started manufacturing the howitzers, the Panzerhaubitze 2000 model, the full run of which which will take several years to complete, Der Spiegel said.

It added that it was not yet clear when the first of the howitzers could be delivered.

Ukraine has pleaded for the West to send more and better artillery as the country runs out of ammunition for its existing Soviet-era arsenal, which is dwarfed by Russia's.