Rheinmetall tank factory could appear in Ukraine, protecting it against Russian strikes “would not be difficult” – Technology Org

The German weapons maker Rheinmetall is negotiating the possibility of building its new tank factory in Ukraine.

The Rheinmetall L-55 of 120 mm smoothbore tank cannon. Image credit: Contando Estrelas via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0

According to the publication in Spiegel which cites the German newspaper Rheinische Post, the new facility could produce up to 400 Panther battle tanks every year. The total cost of construction works is estimated at around 200 million euros.

Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger called the negotiations “promising” and said he expects to make a decision within the next two months.

When asked, how such a manufacturing plant would defend itself against Russian strikes, the CEO said “protection by anti-aircraft defense would not be difficult”.

Rheinmetall Panther KF51 in action in the field. Image credit: Rheinmetall Defense via Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Armin Papperger also estimates that Ukraine needs 600 to 800 tanks to achieve victory in the ongoing war against the invading army of the Russian Federation.

The number of tanks currently available in the German Armed Forces would not be enough to achieve this objective, and therefore Rheinmetall is convinced that it is necessary to produce new main battle tanks.

“Even if Germany gave up all the 300 Leopard 2 tanks available to the Bundeswehr, that would be far too few.” said Rheinmetall CEO.