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. Work has already begun on the construction of the KNDS service hub. 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.
The KMW+Nexter Defense Systems (KNDS) is a European defence industry holding company, which is the result of a merger between Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Nexter Systems. The joint holding company is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. KNDS is the joint holding company formed by German family-controlled defence company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and the French government-owned weapons manufacturer Nexter, two of the leading European manufacturers of military land systems.
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.
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, a member of the German-French defense technology group KNDS, leads the European market for highly protected wheeled and tracked vehicles. At locations in Germany, Brazil, Greece, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Hungary and the USA more than 4.000 employees develop, manufacture and support a product portfolio ranging from air-transportable, highly protected wheeled vehicles through reconnaissance, anti-aircraft and artillery systems to main battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and bridgelaying systems. The armed forces of more than 50 nations worldwide rely on tactical systems by KMW.
