In May, the companies announced an agreement to boost Ukraine’s “defense technology capacities.”Īrmin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall, stands in front of reconditioned Marder infantry fighting vehicles during a tour of the firm's Unterluess plant in Lower Saxony, Germany on 14 July 2022.

(RNMBF) will operate the plant in partnership with Ukroboronprom, a Ukrainian state-owned defense group, which will also own the facility. Papperger said on Thursday that factory workers would build and repair Rheinmetall’s Fuchs armored personnel carrier - named after the German word for fox - under license in the facility. The company told the Rheinische Post newspaper earlier this year that it hoped to open a €200 million ($218 million) battle tank factory on Ukrainian soil, capable of producing about 400 tanks a year. “ have to help themselves - if they always have to wait Europeans or Americans help them over the next 10 or 20 years… that is not possible,” he said.

Germany’s biggest arms maker will also train Ukrainians to maintain the tanks and other armored vehicles made in the factory, which will be located in the western part of the country, CEO Armin Papperger told CNN in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

Rheinmetall will open an armored vehicle plant in Ukraine within the next 12 weeks, shrugging off concerns other Western defense companies reportedly have about building a presence in the country while it is at war with Russia.

Military tank collection images