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Washington [US], April 19 (ANI/Sputnik): The Pentagon and US defence giant Lockheed Martin are discussing increasing the production of weapons destined for Ukraine as Russia continues its special military operation, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
The world's largest defence contractor must boost its output in order to meet the growing number of requests from foreign governments for additional production, the report said. Earlier in the day, Lockheed Martin reported high quarterly profits but at the same time left its year sales guidance unchanged at USD 66 billion. Chief Financial Officer Jay Malave believes additional production for Ukraine will not have an immediate impact on the company's financial results, according to the report. Lockheed Martin is a producer of F-35 combat aircraft, Black Hawk helicopters, and an array of munitions and missile defence systems, which Germany and others now plan to buy, though the company's executives said new contracts would take years to fulfil, the report said. Last week, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks led another round of discussions with the heads of major US defence contractors, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon, about their potential support for Ukraine during Russia's special operation in the country. The discussion was focused primarily on the acceleration and expansion of weapons production for Ukraine. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced an additional USD 800 million in military aid to Ukraine, which includes 18 155mm Howitzers, 40,00 shells, 300 Switchblade drones, 500 Javelin anti-armour missiles, 200 M113 armoured personnel carriers and 16 Mi-17 helicopters, among other equipment. On February 24, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine after recognizing the Ukrainian breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent republics. Russia maintains that the aim of the special operation is to "demilitarize" and "denazify" Ukraine and that it is targeting the country's military infrastructure only. (ANI/Sputnik)
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