The Slovakian-based repair hub for primarily German-supplied but also French-supplied Ukrainian equipment that has been damaged or requires maintenance will be further expanded.
This was announced by the Slovakian Minister of Foreign Affairs Juraj Blanár on the 11th of October during the joint press conference with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock.
The repair hub in Michalovce near the Slovakian-Ukrainian border has been operated by the Franco-German defence company KNDS since December 2022.
It is a strategic important hub for various vehicles and weapon systems such as the German-supplied PzH 2000 self-propelled artillery systems, MARS II MLRS, Gepard SPAAGs and ATF Dingo 2s.
During the visit of the Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico to Berlin at the end of January 2024, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz already announced that they would like to expand this repair hub without going into much detail, still clearly indicating how important this hub is and how long the talks about an expansion have been ongoing.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock also emphasised the importance of the hub. She underlined that without it, some of Germany’s military assistance to Ukraine would not be possible.
According to KNDS, their facility which is operated by KMW employees was already able to work on six vehicles simultaneously on an area of 800 square metres before the now planned expansion. However, there are not yet any details known about the new plans.
The expansion, which is probably urgently needed due to further deliveries of military equipment, also indicates that the contract to operate this repair hub has been extended, as it was initially scheduled to operate until the end of 2024, which is a point in time we have more or less reached by now.
As further details such as the costs for these plans (of course borne by Germany), how many vehicles can then be serviced at the same time and more are not yet known, I will announce them at a later point in time if necessary.
If you liked this post, consider following me on X, Bluesky, or Telegram. If you like, you can also leave me a tip on Ko-fi.
