In the heathland of northern Germany, 120mm rounds with black-painted tungsten tips await, lined up in wooden crates, for their next shipment to Ukraine.
In this wooded landscape of Lower Saxony, the Rheinmetall armaments group is operating the country’s largest defense industrial complex at full steam to meet the needs of armored vehicles and ammunition on the Ukrainian front and to replenish the stocks of NATO member states. .
Rheinmetall is the largest European manufacturer of ammunition for tanks and artillery pieces, ahead of the Norwegian Nammo or the French Nexter. Star product from the Unterlüss site: the 120mm shells destined for the Leopard 2 armored car, this German battle tank that Berlin agreed to deliver to Kiev this year after months of hesitation.
From 60,000 pieces produced per year before Russia’s war against Ukraine, the rate has risen to 240,000. Rheinmetall produces “400 to 500 units per eight-hour run”, being able to “increase the rate even more”, says Harald Weismüller. A position that will be reinforced with the recent acquisition by the German group of the Spanish manufacturer Expal, a leader in 120mm projectiles.
500,000 35mm shells per year
Ukraine is constantly asking the West to deliver more armour, artillery and ammunition, putting pressure on production capacities within the European Union (EU). The European Commission presented at the beginning of May a plan endowed with 500 million euros to accelerate the pace and reach a volume of one million annual shells produced in the EU.
In this context, the European Commissioner for Industry, Thierry Breton, visited the Unterlüss production halls a few weeks ago, where weapons have been manufactured since 1899.
New machines have been installed there, for example to improve the milling of heavy multi-ton guns, as well as new production lines. A highly automated unit for producing 35mm shells fired at high velocity by the Gepard anti-aircraft tank, also delivered to Ukraine, “should start in less than six weeks,” according to Harald Weissmüller. In principle, one rotation per day is planned, that is, “a capacity of up to 500,000 projectiles per year,” he specifies.
The production of these projectiles was until then only in Switzerland, but the Confederation refuses to export them to conflict zones, including Ukraine, so the additional manufacture in Germany will allow the company to get out of the stalemate. As for the 155-mm shells intended for the “Haubitze” armored vehicles, with their long barrel capable of hitting a target 25 kilometers away, production capacity has increased from 40,000 to 140,000 units per year.
boneless tanks
In several rooms, old armored vehicles of the German army, with their rust marks, are completely dismantled to be rehabilitated for a new life in the field of operations, particularly in the Ukraine. Enough to tirelessly occupy the 2,400 employees of the facility, where the tests of the Leopard 2 cannon resonate deafly, coming from the adjacent launch platform, the largest in Europe with a length of 15 kilometers.
The war in Ukraine, but also the rapid rearmament initiated by Germany since last year, have given Rheinmetall’s business a new impetus. In the spring, the group joined the Dax index of major stocks on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, along with giants Siemens and BASF. Its share price has more than doubled since the Russian invasion and its order book, worth 18.5 billion euros, is three times its 2022 turnover.
Next step: settle directly in Ukraine. The German manufacturer recently joined forces with the Ukrainian public military conglomerate Ukroboronprom to repair and then manufacture military vehicles directly on site.
Source: BFM TV
