Rheinmetall is to start building its Lynx infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) in Ukraine, the German arms manufacturer announced from the company headquarters in Dusseldorf on Wednesday.
A memorandum of understanding had been signed on the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, Rheinmetall said. The Lynx has to date been produced only in Germany and Hungary.
Rheinmetall chief executive Armin Papperger plans to begin manufacture in Ukraine soon, according to the statement. "We also want to hand over the first Lynx infantry fighting vehicles to the country this year and start manufacturing these systems in Ukraine in the near future," Papperger said.
Ukraine's Strategic Industries Minister Oleksandr Kamyshin told the German business daily Handelsblatt: "We will produce the first Lynx this year."
A Rheinmetall spokesman said production would be managed by the Rheinmetall Ukrainian Defense Industry company, in which Rheinmetall holds a 51% stake, with the remainder held by Ukraine's UDI state concern.
The Rheinmetall statement indicated that the aim was to supply several hundred of the IFVs under an agreement that is yet to be signed, along with training, maintenance and repair.
Ukraine and Rheinmetall are engaged in several projects, including a Ukrainian competence centre for ammunition agreed in February to produce shells for NATO standard 155 millimetre artillery systems.
"One day Ukraine will join the EU and NATO - and both organizations will have a strong partner with a strong defence industry that does not compete but complements. Let's build the arsenal of the free world together," Kamyshin said according to the Rheinmetall statement.
