French defence companies to build military equipment on Ukrainian soil - minister

France is planning to have some of its arms manufacturers produce much-needed military equipment directly on Ukrainian soil to help the country in its war against Russia, Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Friday.

"Three French companies will be setting up partnerships with Ukrainian companies, in particular in the drone and land equipment sectors, to produce spare parts on Ukrainian soil, and perhaps ammunition in the future", he said.

"The idea is to have the first production units running this summer", Lecornu added.


He hinted the companies involved would include tank maker KNDS, the holding structure formed by France's Nexter and Germany's Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann.