Rheinmetall will open a plant for the production of armored vehicles in Ukraine within the next 3 months. There they will create and repair tanks, as well as teach maintenance of armored vehicles. This was announced by the company's CEO, Armin Papperger, in an interview with CNN.
The plant will be located in western Ukraine. The largest German arms manufacturer will also train Ukrainians to maintain tanks and other armored vehicles produced at the plant.
Papperger said workers at the plant will build and repair Rheinmetall's Fuchs armored personnel carrier -- named after the German word for "fox" -- under license at the facility.
"(Ukrainians-ed.) must help themselves - if they always expect Europeans or Americans to help them in the next 10 or 20 years... this is impossible," he said.
The director of Rheinmetall also announced that next year the company will increase the annual production of artillery shells from 100,000 to 600,000, and a significant part of this additional production will be intended for delivery to Ukraine.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, previously said Russia would retaliate against any Rheinmetall facility built in Ukraine. According to Armin Paperger, the plant will be protected from a Russian attack.
"At the moment, there are many factories that produce military products (in Ukraine, ed.). This is just another one - and we can protect it too," Papperger said.
Earlier this year, the company announced that it hopes to open a 200-million-euro battle tank factory in Ukraine, capable of producing about 400 tanks a year. Rheinmetall will operate the plant in partnership with the Ukrainian state-owned defense concern, which will also own the plant. In May, the companies announced an agreement to strengthen "the defense and technological potential of Ukraine."
