Weapons for Ukraine: artillery shells from Rheinmetall, combat modules from Escribano
14 May 10:56
Ukroboronprom has signed memorandums of cooperation with the German concern Rheinmetall and the Spanish company Escribano. This was reported by Ukroboronprom, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The memorandum with Rheinmetall provides for the possibility of establishing another joint venture in Ukraine that will manufacture artillery ammunition.
Rheinmetall cooperates with Ukraine in various ways
The first joint project was the arrangement of a repair plant for armored vehicles. They also discussed the production of infantry fighting vehicles in Ukraine with the participation of the German concern Lynx and the possible construction of a plant in Ukraine to produce components for anti-aircraft systems.
And last November, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, German industrial giant Rheinmetall, and the international company SAR ICEYE signed a contract on the use of satellite data for the defense of Ukraine. As a result, the Ukrainian military gained access to the information resource of the entire ICEYE satellite constellation.
What Ukrainians and Spaniards will work on
The memorandum with Spain’s Escribano provides for a partnership in the repair and maintenance of Spanish combat modules, joint development of new models of such products and their licensed production in Ukraine.
It is reported that Ukroboronprom enterprises are already working to integrate Spanish combat modules into Soviet-made armored vehicles.
What is known about Spanish combat modules
In the middle of last year, as reported by Militarnyi, a combat module from Escribano Mechanical & Engineering was installed in Ukrainian armored vehicles Kozak-5. Footage of this Spanish combat module was even shown in a video on the Facebook page of the President of Ukraine.
The combat module for a large-caliber machine gun can automatically track the target with corrections and fire in several modes.
It is also possible that the combat modules can effectively fight enemy drones. In 2023, Spain’s Escribano Mechanical & Engineering successfully demonstrated the operation of its combat modules against drones.
During the war, Ukraine became the world’s largest importer of weapons
Between 2020 and 2024, Ukraine’s imports of major weapons increased almost 100 times compared to the previous four years. This is evidenced by data on international arms transfers from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
After Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, at least 35 countries sent weapons to Ukraine. Ukraine received 8.8% of global arms imports in 2020-2024.
Most of the weapons supplied to Ukraine came from the United States (45%), followed by Germany (12%) and Poland (11%). Ukraine was the only European country among the top 10 largest importers in 2020-2024, although many other European countries significantly increased their arms imports during this period.
