Rheinmetall Secures €140 Million Artillery Ammunition Deal to Support Ukraine’s Defense Efforts
Rheinmetall has secured a substantial contract to assist Ukraine with artillery munitions. The Düsseldorf-based technology firm has been assigned the task of delivering artillery rounds to Kyiv valued at approximately €142 million. This contract includes tens of thousands of complete 155mm artillery shells, comprising the projectile, fuse (for the explosive component), propellant, and primer (for igniting the propellant). The client is a NATO ally whose stated aim is to offer Ukraine robust and sustainable military support in its defense efforts.
The shells will be manufactured by Rheinmetall Expal Munitions, the Group’s recently acquired Spanish subsidiary. This agreement underscores Rheinmetall’s position as the globe’s leading manufacturer of munitions, particularly in the large caliber sector. The ammunition is expected to be dispatched in 2025, with production and delivery of approximately 40,000 rounds for Ukraine from a previous order scheduled for 2024.
Just recently, in mid-October 2023, the German government placed a new order with Rheinmetall for over 100,000 rounds of 155mm ammunition designated for Ukraine – again through Rheinmetall Expal Munitions – as well as additional DM 121 high explosive shells. The value of this order falls within the mid-three-digit million-euro range.
The demand for artillery ammunition is currently extremely elevated, driven not only by Ukraine’s needs but also the requirement to refill the largely depleted ammunition stockpiles of Germany and other NATO and EU nations. Rheinmetall intends to substantially enhance its ammunition production capabilities in 2024 at its facilities in Germany, Spain, South Africa, and Australia, aiming to raise annual output capacity to around 700,000 artillery rounds.
Rheinmetall presently holds multiyear framework agreements for supplying the German Bundeswehr with several hundred rounds of artillery munitions valued at over
€1 billion.
