Ukraine's weapon industry gets major boost from European partnerships

Ukraines defense sector is getting bigger as the country moves forward with new European partnerships According to Yulia Svyrydenko (first deputy prime minister and economy minister) three more joint-ventures with European weapon makers are almost ready to launch

The country already has five working partnerships with German and Lithuanian companies: these joint projects show how Ukraine is becoming more self-reliant in its defense needs. Several foreign weapon producers (who want to be part of this growing market) opened their offices in Kyiv

Since the start of russian invasion in early-22‚ local military production has grown fast — both state and private companies are making more stuff. Volodymyr Zelenskiy shared some numbers last month: the country can now make 4-million drones per year plus other military items like missiles transport vehicles and something called a “drone-missile“

German company Rheinmetall already started its first Ukraine factory that fixes combat vehicles; they want to make Lynx fighting vehicles by new years. Other big names like BAE Systems‚ KDNS‚ Babcock‚ and MyDefence joined forces with local makers. Also German Flensburger Fahrzeugbau is building a service centre with a private Ukraine partner

The defense industry is now helping the economy grow: it makes up 1‚8% of GDP (compared to just 0‚3% before the war) Even though the economy isnt as big as it was before the invasion its getting better each year