Rheinmetall plans to build a tank factory in Ukraine

According to Papperger, talks with the Ukrainian government are progressing “promisingly”. “I hope for a decision in the next two months,” says the manager, who estimates that the Ukrainian armed forces currently need 600 to 800 tanks to achieve victory. “The construction of new tanks must start quickly in order to meet this demand.”

“For around 200 million euros, a Rheinmetall plant can be set up in Ukraine to produce up to 400 Panther tanks a year.

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Rheinmetall-Chef Armin Papperger

The Rheinmetall boss assumes that the Ukraine war will last for years to come. “The Western allies are sending enough weapons to enable Ukraine to defend itself, but the Ukrainians don’t have enough equipment today to fully recapture their territory. At the same time, Russia does not have as many resources as the West as a whole, but so far I cannot see the leadership around Putin making any concessions to its aggressive course towards Ukraine. We can only resolve this balancing act by providing much more consistent support to Ukraine,” says Papperger, who has already given some thought to protecting the factory against Russian air strikes. “Protection by air defense would not be difficult.” https://militaeraktuell.at/rheinmetall-stellt-seinen-neuen-panther-vor/ According to the CEO, Rheinmetall has already provided around 250 tanks for the war in Ukraine: “We are working at full speed. We have already made over 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles operational, and by the end of the year we will have around 100. Around 30 of the 50 Leopard 2A4 tanks are ready. In addition, there are around 100 older Leopard 1s, 88 of which we can currently make usable again.”

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