Rheinmetall proposed to build a tank plant in Ukraine

The German concern Rheinmetall is negotiating the construction of a tank factory in Ukraine. The head of the company, Armin Papperger, told the newspaper Rheinische Post about it.

According to the businessman, the construction of the plant will cost approximately 200 million euros, and it will be possible to protect it from air defense by Russian aircraft. According to Papperger, the plant will be able to produce up to 400 Panther KF51 tanks per hour.

The businessman called the negotiations with Ukraine “promising” and expressed hope that a decision would be made in the next two months.

“In order to win the war, Ukraine needs 600 to 800 tanks. Even if Germany gives all 300 Leopard 2 tanks at the disposal of the Bundeswehr, this will still be too little,” Papperger believes. He believes that the war in Ukraine will continue, “probably for years.”

“The Western allies are sending enough weapons so that Ukraine can defend itself, but the Ukrainians today do not have enough equipment to fully retake their territory,” said Papperger.

The head of the Security Council of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, called the news about the negotiations regarding the construction of a plant in Ukraine “primitive trolling by the Kyiv regime.”

“If, after all, the Frits decide to build for real (although they seem to be pragmatic people), we look forward to it. This event will be properly marked with a salute from “Kalibrov” and other pyrotechnic devices,” Medvedev wrote in his Telegram channel.

• At the end of January, it became known that Poland will supply Ukraine with 14 German Leopard 2 tanks and its own modernized tanks. We are talking about 60 vehicles, 30 of which are the main battle tank PT-91.
• Germany also approved the supply of 178 Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine. The first two dozen combat vehicles should be ready for shipment by summer. The ultimate goal is to supply Kyiv with more than 100 tanks in the first or second quarter of 2024.
• The USA announced its readiness to transfer 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine.