With around 800 systems in front deployment or under contract, as well as significant ammunition deliveries, the Franco-German defence group KNDS ranks among the most important industrial partners of the Ukrainian Land Forces.
The company has now opened a subsidiary in Kyiv. Under the name KNDS Ukraine LLC, it will support the cooperation between Ukrainian government institutions, the Ukrainian armaments industry and KNDS.
The purpose of establishing KNDS Ukraine is, among other goals, to empower the Ukrainian industry to carry out maintenance, repair and overhaul work on KNDS systems - among them the Leopard 1 and 2 main battle tanks, the CAESAR artillery gun, the AMX10 RC, the PzH 2000 armoured howitzer and the Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft gun tank -, thus significantly increasing the availability of the systems for combat. At the same time, KNDS and the Ukrainian industry intend to jointly manufacture 155 mm artillery ammunition in Ukraine and produce spare parts using leading-edge manufacturing technologies.
The founding of KNDS Ukraine LLC is based on a corresponding Franco-German government initiative, whose baselines were presented on 22 March 2024 by Ministers of Defence Sebastien Lecornu and Boris Pistorius in Berlin.
KNDS is the result of the association of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Nexter, two of the leading European manufacturers of military land systems based in Germany and France.
KNDS forms a Group of around 9,500 employees, with a 2023 turnover of 3.3 billion euro, an order backlog of around 16 billion euro and incoming orders of 7.8 billion euro. The range of its products includes main battle tanks, armored vehicles, artillery systems, weapons systems, ammunition, military bridges, customer services, battle management systems, training solutions, protection solutions and a wide range of equipment.
The formation of KNDS represents the beginning of consolidation in land defense systems industry in Europe. The strategic alliance between KMW and Nexter enhances both groups’ competitiveness and international positions, as well as their ability to meet the needs of their respective national army. In addition, it offers to its European and NATO customers the opportunity of increased standardization and interoperability for their defense equipment, with a dependable industrial base.
KNDS headquarters are based in Amsterdam.
