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KMW establishes KNDS service base in Slovakia for Ukraine

Amsterdam, 15th November 2022

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG (KMW) is establishing a KNDS base in Slovakia to provide logistical support to Ukraine. The arrangement is based on a corresponding agreement between the Federal Government of Germany and the Government of the Slovak Republic.

The task of the service hub will be the rapid maintenance and repair of vehicles from the KNDS subsidiaries KMW and NEXTER. These include the self-propelled howitzer PzH 2000, the CAESAR wheeled howitzer, the GEPARD self-propelled anti-aircraft gun and the MARS II artillery rocket system, as well as the DINGO armored transport vehicle.

Work has already begun on the construction of the KNDS service hub.

KNDS, the market leader for heavily armored wheeled and tracked vehicles in Europe, will install the MAINTENT mobile maintenance facility at the site and operate it with KMW personnel. The MAINTENT provides the space needed to work on six vehicles simultaneously on an area of 800 square meters, so that they can rapidly be returned to Ukraine. The KNDS service hub will be fully operational by early December 2022 and is initially expected to operate until the end of 2024. KNDS intends to cooperate with other companies in the European defense industry in the course of further expansion.

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Press contact

Dr. Kurt Braatz
Chief Communications Officer
Phone: +31 20 218 4710
E-Mail: kurt.braatz (at) knds.nl

KNDS (KMW+NEXTER Defense Systems) arose from the merger 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 9,000 employees, with a 2022 turnover of 3.2 billion euro, an order backlog of around 11 billion euro and incoming orders of 3.4 billion euro. The range of its products includes main battle tanks, armored vehicles, artillery systems, weapons systems, ammu-nition, military bridges, customer services, battle management systems, training solutions, protection solutions and a wide range of equipment. The formation of KNDS marks the beginning of the consolidation of the industry for military land systems in Europe. The strategic alliance between KMW and Nexter strengthens the competitiveness and international position of both companies as well as their ability to meet the requirements of the armies of their respective nations. In addition, this alliance gives its European and NATO customers a reliable industrial base to increasingly standardise and align their defence technology with each other. KNDS headquarters are based in Amsterdam.