The German defense group Rheinmetall is negotiating with Kiev for the construction of a tank factory in Ukraine. This was told to the Rheinische Post newspaper by company boss Armin Papperger, transmits The Spiegel.
Speaking to the newspaper, Papperger described talks with the Ukrainian government as “promising” and also said he hoped for a decision to build the plant “within the next two months”.
According to him, the cost of building the enterprise can reach up to 200 million euros. The head of Rheinmetall also noted that it would not be difficult to protect the plant with the help of air defense systems against Russian air raids.
As Papperger explained, the plant that Rheinmetall plans to build in Ukraine is capable of producing up to 400 Panther tanks per year. At the same time, Ukraine “needs 600 to 800 tanks” to win, he estimates. Thus, in order to assemble the required number of combat vehicles for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, their construction should be started as soon as possible, the head of the defense group said.
In January, Western countries began announcing upcoming tank deliveries to Ukraine. Germany, in particular, has promised to supply Kiev with 18 Leopard 2 tanks and up to 178 Leopard 1 tanks. According to Ukrainian Ambassador to France Vadim Omelchenko, Western countries have promised to transfer 321 tanks to the ‘Ukraine. In December 2022, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny, said that Kiev needed 300 tanks to reach the borders of Ukraine – the state that had developed before the start of the military conflict. .
“Even if Germany gives up the 300 Leopard 2 tanks the Bundeswehr has, it will still be too few. The Western allies are sending enough weapons there for Ukraine to defend itself, but the Ukrainians today do not have enough equipment to fully take back their territory,” Papperger added.
The head of the company also predicts that the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine “will probably last for years”.
As Papperger said, at the moment Rheinmettal is working “at full speed” in order to equip the APU with equipment. In particular, the defense group has already put more than 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles into service with Ukraine, while by the end of the year there will be about 100. In addition, Rheinmettal has manufactured around 30 Leopard 2 tanks and “there are also around 100 older models of Leopard 1s, of which we can currently use 88,” Papperger said.
According to The Telegraph, the UK is also considering setting up companies in Ukraine that will produce weapons and equipment in the country. As the newspaper writes, defense companies from other countries are also negotiating with Kiev on organizing joint production, but at the same time there is a race to put the UK “in the lead “. James Black, an expert at the RAND Analysis Center, noted that if such a deal takes place, it would be the first time a Western country has produced weapons in Ukraine. According to him, the Ukrainian defense industry was previously focused on the production and maintenance of Soviet or local technologies, and since independence the country “has also suffered from a lack of investment, stalled reforms , corruption and other problems”. In February 2022, Ukraine signed an agreement with Turkey which is expected to expand production of Bayraktar drones in Ukraine. In August, the Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey, Vasily Bodnar, reported that the drone developer, the Turkish company Baykar, had already registered a Ukrainian company for this purpose, acquired land and also developed a concept for the company. In the Kremlin, the factories of Bayraktar are threatened with “demilitarization”.
