Warsaw: Ukrainian defence companies are seeking ties with European vendors for cooperative weapons manufacturing, positioning themselves as a war-experienced industry with plenty of needs — but lots of lessons.
The new advances come as Ukraine’s industry frantically supplies the country with weapons to repel Russia while making longer-term plans for underwriting a domestic post-war defence architecture.
In a speech last month at the European Defence and Security Summit in Brussels, Ukraine Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in order to “guarantee a qualitative advantage in the future, Europe needs to re-arm not with an eye on the past, but through Ukraine’s current experience.”
“Ukrainian companies are also interested in cooperating with Europe, and they can bring a lot to the table,” he added.
In terms of military procurement, the country wants to become as self-sufficient as possible, while also boosting partnerships with Western partners to serve as suppliers of technology and manufacturing capacities.
The latest moves to that end build on Kyiv’s announcement from late 2022. Last November, Ukraine’s state-run defence group Ukroboronprom said it was developing joint projects with several NATO member states, including France, Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic and two undisclosed allies.
Using “both the existing capacities, and newly created ones in safe locations,” the group and its partners will jointly produce armoured vehicles, missile launchers, ammunition and other weapons, according to Ukroboronprom.
A senior Ukroboronprom representative said last year its subsidiaries have observed a spike in demand from foreign customers interested in buying weapons capable of destroying Russian military targets because producers have tweaked the technology with recent battlefield experience in mind.
While the Ukrainian defence sector’s efforts are focused on supplying weapons to the country’s military, various Middle Eastern and Far Eastern states have demonstrated interest in purchasing Ukrainian-made multiple rocket launchers with guided missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles, among others, the representative said.
Last month, Germany’s Rheinmetall and Ukroboronprom inked an agreement for repairing tanks that is set to become operational in mid-July 2023. The latest development builds on earlier announcements related to a new factory that the German vendor wants to open in Ukraine. Under the plan, the envisioned facility could manufacture up to 400 of the company’s novel Panther KF51 main battle tanks per year, Rheinmetall executives have said.
Ukraine is also working to boost defence industry ties with Poland, a tie-up that promises Ukroboronprom access to production facilities through Polish state-owned defence giant PGZ.
In April, during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s official visit to Poland, PGZ and Ukroboronprom subsidiary Artem inked a deal to cooperate on launching new production lines to make 125mm tank shells for Ukraine’s military, though a site has yet to be determined.
