The manufacturer of Leopard tanks and other weapons has formed a joint venture with a Ukrainian company.

Minister for Strategic Industries Herman Smetanin announced the official opening of a joint venture between KMW (KNDS Deutschland) and a Ukrainian defense enterprise. The newly created company will specialize in the maintenance and repair of military equipment supplied by the company to the Ukrainian defense forces. This equipment first appeared in Ukraine back in 2022. According to the minister, Ukrainian specialists have already been trained in Germany, and the first operational systems have already been installed at the facility.

KNDS (formerly KMW+Nexter Defense Systems) is an association between two leading European manufacturers of ground-based military systems: the German Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and the French Nexter. The company has about 9,000 employees and, in 2022 recorded a turnover of €3.2B. Its products include Leopard main battle tanks, armored vehicles, artillery systems, weapon systems, and ammunition.