German arms group Rheinmetall is holding discussionspromisingwith Kiev regarding the construction of a tank production plant in Ukraine, which the country needs to repel the Russian invasion, its president said in an interview published on Saturday. “A Rheinmetall factory can be built in Ukraine for about 200 million eurosArmin Papperger told the newspaper that with the goal of producing up to 400 Panther-type battle tanks per year.Rheinische Post:“. The boss said he expects a decision.over the next two months“.
The factory couldwithout difficulty» to be protected from Russian attacks by anti-aircraft defense systems. The former chairman of the Russian Security Council and number two Dmitry Medvedev has already threatened to mention the possible opening of the factory.as it should be in the case of a salvo of Kalibr (Russian missiles) and other pyrotechnics“, in a message on his Telegram account.
Ukraine, according to Armin Papperger, needs 600 to 800 tanks to win against Russian forces, hence the need to produce new tanks quickly. “Even if Germany provided (Ukraine) 300 Leopard 2 tanks of the Bundeswehr, it would obviously be insufficient.“.
After a long delay, Chancellor Olaf Scholz gave the green light at the end of January to send Leopard tanks, the flagship of the German armed forces, to Ukraine. Berlin, which wants to provide a total of 18 Leopard 2A6 tanks from the Bundeswehr’s stockpile, is coordinating a coalition of countries aiming to send two battalions of 31 Leopards to Kiev, where Sweden, Finland, Portugal or Poland.
For its part, industrial Rheinmetall should be able to assemble around 250 tanks as part of military aid to Ukraine, many of which will go to the Czech Republic and Slovakia to replace their previous shipments of Kiev-made armored vehicles. Others will go to the Bundeswehr, others to Ukraine, said Armin Paperger.
Source: Le Figaro
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