Rheinmetall, Germany’s biggest arms maker, plans to open an armored vehicle plant in Ukraine within the next 12 weeks to maintain and repair the tanks and other armored vehicles that were manufactured in the factory, CEO Armin Papperger told CNN in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

According to Papperger, the station will be located in the Western part of the country and will employ Ukrainians to repair the tanks and armored vehicles. 

“[Ukrainians] have to help themselves — if they always have to wait [for] Europeans or Americans [to] help them over the next 10 or 20 years… that is not possible,” he said.

Earlier this year, the company told the Rheinische Post newspaper that it was mulling plans to open a €200 million ($218 million) battle tank factory in Ukraine, noting that the station would have the capacity to build 400 tanks per year. 

On Thursday, Papperger said the factory would build and repair Rheinmetall’s Fuchs armored personnel carrier under license in the facility. 

The company plans to operate the plant in cooperation with Ukroboronprom, a Ukrainian state-owned defense group. An agreement was announced earlier this year in May to boost Ukraine’s "defense technology capacities."

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Although Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned that Russia would retaliate by targeting any facility Rheinmetall establishes in Ukraine, Papperger said that the factory could be protected from Russian attacks.

"There are a lot of factories at the moment which are producing military goods [in Ukraine]. It is just another one — and we can protect that also," he said.

Since the start of the counteroffensive, Ukrainian forces have been facing some serious challenges in their efforts to recapture annexed territories

As of now, supplying more ammo is a more pressing necessity than producing more tanks, Papperger said. 

Within the coming years, Rheinmetall expects to boost its annual production of artillery rounds from 100,000 to 600,000.

A large portion of that extra output would be earmarked for delivery to Ukraine, he added.

Estimates suggest that Rheinmetall could provide 60% of the artillery ammunition Ukraine needs, he noted.

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