Ukrainian Defense Industry teams up with French defense group to create joint venture

The French company Thales International SAS, which specializes in aerospace and military information systems, has signed an agreement with the Ukrainian Defense Industry to establish a joint venture.

According to Ukroboronprom's press service, the agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Rubryka reports.

The new enterprise will focus on:

• Developing advanced technological solutions
• Providing optimized and operational support in air defense, radar systems, electronic warfare, tactical communications, and optoelectronic systems.

Ukroboronprom CEO Oleh Hulyak claims that the partnership agreement:

• Will allow "to more tightly close the Ukrainian sky from Russian threats."
• Will provide Ukrainian arms manufacturers with experience in working with "the most advanced" technologies.

Reference: Thales Group is an international industrial group that produces information systems for aerospace, military, and naval applications. Its headquarters is located in Paris, France.

Increase in weapons production in Ukraine

As of August last year, in less than 8 months of this year, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine codified and allowed for operation in units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine twice as many samples of Ukrainian-made weapons and military equipment than in the entire previous year. In 2023, this figure amounted to more than 200 samples of domestic weapons.

Some samples of Ukrainian-made weapons are unique in their characteristics and this is proven by the results of their use in combat conditions. For example, Ukraine is the world leader in some samples of drones.

Let us recall that on August 24, during the celebrations on the occasion of Independence Day, Zelensky announced the first successful combat use of the Ukrainian missile-drone "Palianytsia".

During a press conference at the Ukraine 2024. Independence forum on August 27, the President announced that Ukraine had successfully tested a domestically produced ballistic missile for the first time.

At the end of December 2024, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov reported that Ukraine had received over €150 million from Denmark, France, and Lithuania to finance the Ukrainian defense-industrial complex.

As Rubryka reported, since the start of the full-scale invasion, EU countries have been working to increase their own weapons production capacities. However, democracy and bureaucracy have slowed down this process. Now, while Europeans have the financial resources, they face a shortage of military factories and production capacities. In contrast, Ukraine's factories are operating at "half strength" due to insufficient funding. So, why shouldn't the EU invest in the Ukrainian defense industry? Rubryka explores how Western partner countries and companies are investing in Ukraine's defense sector.