The American aerospace company Northrop Grumman plans to produce medium-caliber ammunition in Ukraine, according to Breaking Defense.
According to a company representative speaking to journalists, this will be done under the framework of the Northrop joint production agreement, which became the first publicly acknowledged deal between the US Defense Secretary and the Ukrainian government.
"We’ve been working, as you know, in Ukraine to produce medium [caliber munitions]. That’s our first project that’s paid for with Ukrainian dollars. We are looking to expand that into tank ammo, 155 mm, others as we find innovative processes," said Dave Bartell, director of international business for Northrop’s defense systems sector.
Stanley Brown, State Department’s principal deputy assistant secretary for the bureau of political-military affairs, confirmed such plans at the Eurosatory arms exhibition in Paris.
During his speech, he highlighted the new US State Department program to develop defense enterprises in Ukraine, which invests $2 billion in the country's defense-industrial base and could open doors for US-Ukrainian joint production.
Joint weapon production
Ukraine is negotiating joint defense production agreements with other countries. Recently, for instance, Ukrainian and Belgian parties signed a memorandum on joint weapon production.
In June, it was announced that Ukraine's first workshop for the repair and production of armored vehicles started operating within the framework of the joint venture between Ukroboronprom and the German defense giant Rheinmetall.
Earlier in March, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated that Ukraine has already established five joint ventures with Western arms manufacturers. He also mentioned that leading global arms producers such as Day & Zimmermann, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and others are currently considering the possibility of presence in Ukraine.
Additionally, it was reported recently that Denmark will invest in the production of Ukrainian weapons. This is the first NATO country to make such investments.
