WARSAW, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Saab is looking to set up

production in Ukraine to support the country's development of

independent defence capabilities, the Swedish defence equipment

maker's CEO told Reuters.

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has

prompted a surge in demand for military equipment, with several

Western manufacturers looking to set up production in Ukraine.

"We have to help Ukraine build sovereign capacity and

capabilities, so we need to have partnership with Ukrainian

industry in Ukraine and also Ukrainian industry that has moved

outside of Ukraine," Saab CEO Micael Johansson said.

He added Saab was in talks with two or three companies on

"how to establish local production", but an agreement was yet to

be finalised.

Saab, which competes with the likes of U.S. giant Lockheed

Martin ( LMT ), France's Dassault Aviation and Britain's BAE Systems, is

seeing a boom in demand spurred by global tensions, the war in

Ukraine, and Sweden's recent NATO accession.

Johansson said he saw potential for working with Ukrainian

companies on drone capabilities. Ukraine could also be supplier

of munitions parts and contribute to the development of sensor

technology, he added.

Johansson said the arms industry was pivoting from

donation-based aid to direct partnerships with Kyiv.

"I think we are sort of in a movement of going from having

countries donating things to Ukraine, which will continue, of

course, to having us as an industry delivering directly to the

MoD (Ministry of Defence) and the defence forces in Ukraine,

which has not happened completely yet, but it's starting to

happen," he said.