The German company that makes Leopard and Panther tanks wants to build a factory in Ukraine, report says
Papperger said the company would be interested in supplying the Ukrainian army with weapons and vehicles, but that it was not currently in talks about specific contracts. Rheinmetall, which produces Leopard 2 and Panther tanks, is in talks with the Ukrainian government, CEO Armin Papperger told th
A German arms giant wants to build a tank factory in Ukraine, the
Rheinische Post
reported Saturday.
"Talks with the Ukrainian government are promising and I'm hoping for a decision in the next two months," Armin Papperger, the CEO of Rheinmetall, told the newspaper.
Rheinmetall makes an array of weapons and ammunition, including the
Leopard 2 tanks
that Germany
Finally, it was possible to send
to Ukraine in late January. Its latest battle-tank is the Panther KF51.
The headquarters of the company are in Dusseldorf in Germany. However, there are factories in 33 other countries.
Papperger told the Rheinische Post that a plant could be built in Ukraine for about 200 million euros ($212 million) and produce up to 400 Panthers a year.
Asked if it would be "dangerous" to set up an arms factory in "the middle of a war-zone," he responded: "No, anti-aircraft protection wouldn't be difficult."
Papperger believed that the West needed to increase its military support for Ukraine.
He told the publication: "The Ukrainians do not have the equipment today to fully retake their territory. Russia may not have as many resources as the West as a whole, but so far I have not seen that the leadership around Putin is making any concessions to its aggressive course towards Ukraine."
Papperger said Ukraine needed between 600 and 800 more tanks to win the war and he wanted to ramp up production as soon as possible.