French arms company Thales to open a joint venture in Ukraine

At the Eurosatory show, the French arms giant Thales has signed three agreements with the Ukrainian defence sector on behalf of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces and Ukraine's Ministry of Strategic Industries.

The French firm's two agreements relate to one of the enterprises of the Ukrainian Defence Industry JSC (also known as Ukroboronprom, a strategic manufacturer of weapons and military hardware in Ukraine).

The first agreement indicates Thales' desire to form a joint venture in Ukraine to produce electronic warfare equipment, tactical communications equipment, air defence systems, and radars.

The second arrangement is for electronic warfare, under which Thales will provide substantial maintenance, testing, and specialised equipment training in Ukraine.

Thales has inked a separate, third agreement with Ukrainian drone manufacturer FRDM to jointly develop and build an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of carrying and shooting munitions.

"These agreements aim to strengthen operational support of Ukrainian Armed forces front-line operations and reinforce local defence capability," Thales commented.

Thales, a firm partially controlled by the French government and fighter jet maker Dassault Aviation, is the European leader in air defence radar production and the world's third largest after Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

Last year, Ukraine signed a memorandum with the company on the supply of two GM-200 radars.