A steering gear for a surgical instrument, wherein the steering gear has a swash plate, wherein the steering gear can be arranged at the proximal end of a shaft which defines a longitudinal axis and has a bending mechanism at the distal end, wherein the steering gear has two motorised drives and is designed to spatially align the swash plate via the adjustment angles of the two drives, which swash plate is designed to control the distal bending mechanism of the surgical instrument, wherein the swash plate is arranged in a steering ring, characterised in that the first of the two motorised drives has a first drive shaft which is driven by a first motor and is directly operatively connected to the steering ring via a first force transmitter, by the first force transmitter directly contacting the steering ring at a first operative section, wherein the first force transmitter is arranged on the first drive shaft, which defines a first drive axis, and the second of the two motorised drives has a second drive shaft which is driven by a second motor and is directly operatively connected to the steering ring via a second force transmitter, by the second force transmitter directly contacting the steering ring at a second operative section, wherein the second force transmitter is arranged on the second drive shaft, which defines a second drive axis (C'), wherein the steering ring is cardanically mounted about a cardanic centre and is formed in the shape of a spherical segment at least on the first and the second operative section (W1, W2), wherein the spherical segmentshaped operative sections (W1, W2) have a common spherical centre point which corresponds to the cardanic centre, in which a first tilt axis, which is defined by a contact point of the first force transmitter with the steering ring and the cardanic centre, and a second tilt axis (E'), which is defined by a contact point of the second force transmitter with the steering ring and the cardanic centre, intersect at right angles. wherein the swash plate is arranged in a steering ring, characterised in that the first of the two motorised drives has a first drive shaft which is driven by a first motor and is directly operatively connected to the steering ring via a first force transmitter, by the first force transmitter directly contacting the steering ring at a first operative section, wherein the first force transmitter is arranged on the first drive shaft, which defines a first drive axis, and the second of the two motorised drives has a second drive shaft which is driven by a second motor and is directly operatively connected to the steering ring via a second force transmitter, by the second force transmitter directly contacting the steering ring at a second operative section, wherein the second force transmitter is arranged on the second drive shaft, which defines a second drive axis (C'), wherein the steering ring is cardanically mounted about a cardanic centre and is formed in the shape of a spherical segment at least on the first and the second operative section (W1, W2), wherein the spherical segmentshaped operative sections (W1, W2) have a common spherical centre point which corresponds to the cardanic centre, in which a first tilt axis, which is defined by a contact point of the first force transmitter with the steering ring and the cardanic centre, and a second tilt axis (E'), which is defined by a contact point of the second force transmitter with the steering ring and the cardanic centre, intersect at right angles.