The head of Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger, said that for the production of Panther tanks, which is planned to be opened in the Kyiv region, the majority of employees will be Ukrainians. It makes no sense to bring specialists from Germany if Rheinmetall can use experienced Ukrainian engineers and, from time to time, bring them to advanced training in Germany. Such a scheme works, for example, at Rheinmetall Hungary: out of 300 employees, there are only 2 Germans.
Papperger said that the expected launch of the plant will be in 15-20 months. The businessman is not afraid that Russian actions will destroy his production:
"There are weapons factories in Ukraine today. Such facilities can be defended. Assume that the Ukrainians know how to do it," Armin Papperger.
The head of the concern states that the production of Panthers in Ukraine would be relatively easy to start because all the parts for this battle tank are produced by Rheinmetall itself: "... from armour to the fire control system."
This tank also has an advantage over the Leopard: "...lighter and more mobile, with better protection and firepower, and will be fully digital and cheaper."
We remind you that negotiations on launching the production of these battle tanks in Ukraine began in February 2022.
