Ukraine is negotiating contracts with Western arms makers to set up production of their equipment inside the country despite the war ongoing, as follows from the interview Reuters had with Serhii Boiev, Deputy Minister for Strategic Industries in Ukraine.
Boiev said Kyiv had "very detailed discussions" with defense companies from Germany, Italy, France, and Eastern Europe. "We are certain that we will have the contracts agreements signed within the next few months," the official stated.
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According to him, "different levels of cooperation" are discussed during these talks. As for the types of equipment Ukraine expects to start producing soon, those are unmanned systems, in the first place:
"Some of the companies say that they are willing to come and invest and produce drones."
Reuters notes that deputy minister Boiev met with a number of drone-making companies during the Paris Air Show this week, from major firms to smaller suppliers, though which ones exactly caught his interest, he declined to comment.
At the same time, a source from the European defense industry warned that some drone testing standards applied in Europe could make it challenging for companies to deploy their production lines in Ukraine. Boiev, on the other hand, is sure that assistance provided by the Ukrainian government will be enough to attract Western companies.
Earlier Defense Express reported that some of the major Western defense industries already have plans to establish their facilities in Ukraine. In May 2023, international industrial giant BAE Systems will unfold a repair and production hub in the country, and German Rheinmetall has already created a joint venture with Ukrainian state concern Ukroboronprom.
Besides, there is also a Turkish-Ukrainian project that's been prepared for quite a long time. Baykar proceeds with its plan to build an entire research and production center on Ukraine's territory which will not only assemble Bayraktar drones but also provide repair and maintenance service, modernization, and personnel training. Here's, by the way, how it will look once finished, as rendered by Baykar.
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