Source: Yahoo/Business Insider

In 2020, Blackwater founder Erik Prince pitched plans to hire Ukrainian combat veterans and buy into the country's military-industrial complex in order to create a $10 billion private army, according to a new Time investigation.

The former Navy SEAL created a "roadmap" detailing his goals to acquire factories in Ukraine that make engines for fighter jets and helicopters as well as build munitions factories in the country and combine Ukraine's top aerospace and aviation firms in order to compete with Boeing and Airbus, the outlet reported.

Prince's full plan, obtained by Time, dates back to June 2020 and is one of his most ambitious ventures in a long career of pursuing and creating controversial defense infrastructure, according to the magazine. Documents obtained by the outlet reveal Prince's coveted venture would have given him a pivotal role in Ukraine's military industry amid it's continuous conflict with neighboring Russia.

Several of the proposals required approval from the Ukrainian government, including one that would create a new private military company staffed by veterans of the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, according to the magazine.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/blackwater-founder-erik-prince-had-070738973.html