US firms to ramp up defense manufacturing in Ukraine

Ukraine signed a memorandum with the United States on cooperation in the joint production of weapons and the exchange of technical data, the parties to the memorandum – the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, as well as the US Department of Defense - announced on their websites.

The purpose of the memorandum is to support the construction in Ukraine of its own facilities for the production of weapons, in particular, critically needed ammunition. Washington indicated that cooperation will also be focused on air defense systems and the repair of military equipment.

"We offer our partners to look at the Ukrainian defense industry as an opportunity. The opportunity to quickly increase production capacity, because in Ukraine the regulation of the defense industry is the most favorable for the manufacturer," said Alexander Kamyshin, Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine.

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine expects that the next step will be the signing of agreements on the localization of production with a number of large American companies producing weapons and military equipment.

In July 2023, Kamyshin said that Ukraine is going to become the largest producer of weapons in Europe. In September he predicted that after the war, weapons would become the main export product of Ukraine.

At the beginning of December, he said that the capabilities of the military-industrial complex have already exceeded the capabilities of the state budget.