Ukrainian TAF Industries is promoting the launch of a joint venture in Germany together with its partner Wingcopter and is simultaneously preparing an intergovernmental agreement that will allow exporting some components for final assembly to the EU.
Ukrainian TAF Industries is promoting the launch of a joint venture in Germany together with its partner Wingcopter and is simultaneously preparing an intergovernmental agreement that will allow exporting some components for final assembly to the EU.
According to an interview with TAF Industries CEO Volodymyr Zinovsky, the teams are currently agreeing on the final terms of the document that fixes the parameters of cooperation. At the same time, according to him, more critical than the memorandum is the preparation of a G2G agreement between Ukraine and Germany: it should legalize the export of individual components and allow the final assembly of the sides to be carried out in Germany.
Zinovsky explains that the logic of the project is not in full technology transfer. Key elements of production are planned to be kept in Ukraine, and the German site is needed to quickly scale up production and reduce risks associated with war and logistics. The parties should prescribe the next steps of cooperation already in the process of operating the joint venture.
A separate block of negotiations is updating the product to meet the expectations of the German government and NATO requirements. The CEO notes that the current version of the product does not meet all the necessary criteria, primarily regarding localization, so together with the partner they will create a new modification. The company admits that this will increase the cost of the aircraft, but for the German market the price is less sensitive than for Ukraine in the current conditions.
In addition, TAF Industries wants to offer the Ukrainian military Wingcopter reconnaissance drones within the same joint venture. The company believes that the supply of such systems can be financed by the German side, so Ukraine receives increased capabilities without additional pressure on the budget.
A Memorandum of Understanding (which Wingcopter previously signed with TAF Industries) is usually not a production or procurement contract: it is a framework document that captures intentions, principles of interaction and a list of issues for further legal agreements. For defense projects, the intergovernmental (G2G) level is often crucial, as it determines the rules for exporting components, permissible production operations abroad and the legal status of the final product during procurement and certification.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how the Ukrainian deftech company TAF Industries is developing the TAF-I10 high-speed interceptor drone with resistance to electronic warfare.
