The Düsseldorf-based firm plans to run four factories inside Ukraine producing everything from artillery ammunition to gunpowder and air defense systems, alongside the vehicle repair and maintenance facility.
Rheinmetall — which Papperger claims is the most profitable defense company in the world — said earlier this month that it had already sent around 200 Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine, and the German government has donated Rheinmetall’s air defense systems too, along with thousands of shells.
Papperger justified investments in production plants inside Ukraine by saying in a recent interview with Welt that Kyiv needs four million rounds of artillery ammunition to restock its silos as it resists Putin’s full-scale invasion.