Two giants of the Western military-industrial complex are entering Ukraine at once - the American Northrop Grumman and the German Rheinmetall
According to the defense industry publication Breaking Defense, citing a statement by Northrop executive Dave Bartell at the Eurosatory 2024 exhibition in Paris, the world's third-largest defense company after RTX and Lockheed Martin plans to produce medium-caliber ammunition in Ukraine.
“We are working in Ukraine to produce medium [caliber] ammunition. This is our first project paid for in Ukrainian dollars. We are looking to expand it to 155mm and other ammunition once we find innovative processes,” he said.
Bartell did not detail the joint production plan, but pointed to the State Department's new Ukraine Defense Industrial Development Program, which will invest $2 billion in Ukraine's defense industrial base and could open the door to U.S.-Ukraine joint military production.
Following in the American footsteps are the Germans. According to the British newspaper The Telegraph, the German concern Rheinmetall will donate a new Frankenstein air defense system to Ukraine. It consists of the latest German Skyranger anti-aircraft gun, mounted on the Leopard 1 tank chassis.
Such a system is capable of shooting down both drones and missiles. Rheinmetall will deliver a new Rheinmetall air defense tank to the front - it will be able to shoot down missiles and drones. According to German developers, the basis for the new tank will be Leopard 1 - the most modern Skyranger anti-aircraft system will be installed on its hull.
Yesterday, it was announced that Rheinmetall plans to produce hybrids of the Leopard tank and Skyranger air defense system at a Ukrainian plant. A company representative told Bild am Sonntag that they have numerous Leopard 1 tanks, whose chassis can be fitted with Skyranger turrets and 35mm cannons, allowing for increased ammunition capacity, improved off-road performance, and the ability to traverse difficult terrain near the front lines.
But German plans for Ukraine do not stop there. Recently, a workshop for repairing armored vehicles, created jointly with Rheinmetall, started operating in western Ukraine. Now it is mainly busy repairing Leopard 1 tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles destroyed during battles, but soon it will repair Leopard 2 and tanks from other countries transferred to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine Alexander Kamyshin said that this is the first implemented project within the framework of the partnership between the German concern and Ukroboronprom. Kyiv plans to produce new models of armored vehicles there. However, when exactly this will happen, the minister did not specify.
Two Western military-industrial giants are entering Ukraine at once: American Northrop Grumman and German Rheinmetall.