Ukraine aiming to become Europe's top arms producer, early successes seen already

Ukraine has ambitions to become the largest arms producer in Europe, Minister of Strategic Industries Alexander Kamyshin said in an interview with PAP.

"Ukraine will become the weapons arsenal of the free world and an expert in conventional warfare. We want our country to become the largest arms producer in Europe," he said.

"First of all, we are building Ukraine's power as a weapons manufacturer. We already have the first successes, I cannot reveal more, but the greatest emphasis is placed on the production of missiles," the minister added.

Kamyshin did not give specific figures regarding the production capacities of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex, but, according to him, they have doubled over the past month.

The Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine is one of the co-founders of the Brave 1 project, which supports defense tech development in Ukraine. According to the official, this project should allow manufacturers to quickly go from an idea to a contract with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

The project is also aimed at foreign investors.

"If they decide to produce in Ukraine during the war, they will be able to test their product on the battlefield. This, in turn, will give them the opportunity to modernize it. I think that any weapon that follows this path will be sold not only in Ukraine," Kamyshin said.

On June 8, 2023, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov stated that Ukraine has good prospects of having its own missiles with a range of more than 1,000 kilometers.

At the end of June, Ukraine created JSC Ukrainian Defense Industry instead of the Ukroboronprom state defense concern.