The Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine and the Czech companies COLT CZ and Česká Zbrojovka discussed the licensed production of the Bren-2 and the development of a new assault rifle.
This was reported by the head of the ministry, Herman Smetanin.
The meeting took place during a business trip to the Czech Republic alongside the President's strategic advisor, Oleksandr Kamyshin.
"We plan to deepen this cooperation: the discussion concerns the transfer of production capacities for the manufacturing of semi-automatic weapons in Ukraine. In the long term, we aim to create a new Ukrainian assault rifle," the statement says.
Ukrainian officials also met with representatives from PBS, OMNIPOL, LPP, and AMOS.
"I thank Czech defense companies for their partnership with Ukrainian ones. The first results of this cooperation are already evident, and I hope that soon we will be able to share them. In the meantime, we are working on implementing the agreements reached," Smetanin concluded in his post.
It is known that in 2024, licensed assembly of Czech Bren-2 assault rifles began in Ukraine. Today, Ukrainian facilities have the capacity to assemble 400 units per day.
The agreement with Česká Zbrojovka, which involves localizing assembly and, in the future, full production of NATO-standard assault rifles in Ukraine, was signed on July 16.
