Germany’s largest arms maker will reportedly open an armored vehicle plant in Ukraine by early fall, and it will also train Ukrainians to maintain its tanks and other armored vehicles. It is the latest shift from Germany, which at the start of the year was still reluctant to even supply its Leopard 2 main battle tanks (MBTs) to aid Kyiv in its ongoing war against Ukraine.
However, on Monday, CNN reported that Rheinmetall will have the facility up and running within the next 12 weeks – while it has shrugged off concerns from other Western defense companies about building a presence in Ukraine while the country is at war with Russia.
“[Ukrainians] have to help themselves — if they always have to wait [for] Europeans or Americans [to] help them over the next 10 or 20 years … that is not possible,” CEO Armin Papperger told CNN in an exclusive interview conducted last Thursday.
Partnership in the Works
Rheinmetall will reportedly operate the plant in partnership with Ukroboronprom, a state-owned Ukrainian defense group, which will also own the facility where workers will build and repair the Fuchs (German for Fox) armored personnel carrier (APC) under license.
Rheinmetall has also announced that it would ramp up its annual production of artillery rounds from 100,000 to 600,000 next year, with much of that extra output being earmarked for delivery to Ukraine, Papperger added.
The news comes after the German-based arms maker told the Rheinische Post newspaper earlier this year that it hoped to open a €200 million ($218 million) battle tank factory on Ukrainian soil. It had further said that the facility would be capable of producing about 400 tanks a year.
“Ukraine needs this because vehicles get damaged, they need to get repaired, they come under fire,” CEO Armin Papperger told Reuters earlier this month. “We aim to help Ukraine so they can do the maintenance on their vehicles and produce spare parts themselves.”
Other Western-owned Facilities Coming to Ukraine
Rheinmetall may not be alone in seeing its military hardware produced in Ukraine. In May, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said his nation was working with British-based BAE Systems to set up a Ukrainian base to both produce and repair weapons from tanks to artillery, Reuters also first reported.
News of Rheinmetall and other Western defense firms setting up shop in Ukraine was met with harsh criticism from Russia.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of current President Vladimir Putin, said earlier this year that Russia would retaliate by hitting any facility Rheinmetall set up in Ukraine.
“The decision should be greeted with salvos of Kalibr (cruise missiles) and other Russian pyrotechnic devices,” Medvedev said on his official channel on the Telegram messaging app in March after the first media reports of the investment.
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
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