(MENAFN- UkrinForm) The first Lynx infantry fighting vehicle will be produced in Ukraine jointly with the leading German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall before the end of the current year.
This was confirmed in a commentary to Ukrinform by Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine Oleksandr Kamyshyn, who is participating in the Ukraine Recover Conference, which is taking place in Berlin on June 11-12.
"At the conference, we announced together with the German defense concern Rheinmetall that we are starting production of Lynx infantry fighting vehicles in Ukraine. The first such vehicle will be produced in Ukraine before the end of the year," Kamyshin said.
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He noted that the German government will finance the project and added that the German side has met and supported Ukrainian initiatives so far.
The minister also informed that on the eve of the conference, he and Rheinmetall management opened a production facility in Ukraine to repair weapons transferred by Germany, including Marder infantry fighting vehicles (als funded by the German government).
"This is a good example of how the Ukrainian defense industry is beginning to integrate into the European system," the official said. He is convinced that when Ukraine becomes a member of the EU and NATO, the national defense industry will be integrated into the European system.
After the war ends with Ukraine's victory, the export of Ukrainian weapons and military equipment will become a "significant, if not the main" element of the Ukrainian economy, the minister underscored.
He recalled that the defense industry is an important element of economic recovery, and last year, out of 5% of economic growth, 1.5% was contributed by the defense sector. "This year it will be many times more," Kamyshin said.
According to him, Ukraine's need for weapons currently exceeds the global production capacity of any country, "so while we are at war, we will buy a lot of weapons. But the main task is to develop, produce and repair them in Ukraine."
At the conference, where Kamyshyn is a member of the government delegation, he is working to find mechanisms for how the Ukrainian industry can work with foreign partners to accelerate economic recovery. An important part of the work is finding financing for Ukrainian arms and military equipment manufacturers since Ukraine is already capable of producing more.
"Our task now is to finance production, buy from our manufacturers, and speed up the transfer of weapons to our soldiers on the frontline," the minister said.
As part of the conference, ten 10 companies producing weapons in Ukraine were represented at the Recovery Forum. These include Defense Tech, drones, air and ground systems (maritime systems were not presented), which show European partners that Ukraine is capable of producing, has good technological solutions that work, and are quite competitive in price, Kamyshin said.
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