German: Bundeswehr bestellt hunderttausende Artilleriegeschosse English: The Bundeswehr orders hundreds of thousands of artillery shells

The necessity arising from the war in Ukraine to restock the ammunition depots of the armed forces brings Rheinmetall large orders in the field of artillery ammunition.

The German Bundeswehr has now commissioned Rheinmetall to deliver large quantities of combat and practice ammunition for the artillery forces worth around 1.3 billion euros gross. Two contracts for this purpose were signed at the Federal Office for Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support of the Bundeswehr (BAAINBw) in Koblenz.

Rheinmetall has received a new framework contract for the delivery of 155mm artillery ammunition, and an existing framework contract has been expanded. In total, the delivery of several hundred thousand projectiles as well as fuses and propellant modules of different types is planned. The new framework contract runs until 2029 and has a potential order volume of around 1.2 billion euros gross.

Furthermore, the Bundeswehr has expanded the existing framework contract for DM121 artillery shells. In addition to the above framework contract, this is associated with an order volume of around 137 million euros gross. The existing framework contract thus increases from 109 million euros to a total value of 246 million euros gross. The DM 121 high-explosive shell with insensitive properties is also used for training and practice.

First orders from the mentioned framework contract for combat and practice ammunition have already been placed immediately following the signing of the contracts. The delivery of these shells worth 127 million euros gross is expected to take place shortly.

Since its inception over 125 years ago, Rheinmetall has been a reliable partner of the artillery. To this day, the seamless barrel manufacturing method invented by company founder Heinrich Ehrhardt is still used in the production of modern guns. In the field of ammunition, Rheinmetall offers a family of ammunition that includes the DM121 high-explosive shell, the DM125 smoke shell, the DM702 SMArt proximity-fuzed munition (a joint development with Diehl Defence), the RH68 practice shell, and the range-optimized smoke shells RH1901 and RH1902. Also included in the product portfolio is the versatile 155mm Assegai artillery ammunition family from Rheinmetall Denel Munition. It includes insensitive munition (IM), conventional high explosive (HE) shells, smoke, illumination, infrared illumination, and other shells. The Assegai family, in either Boat Tail (BT) or Base Bleed (BB) configuration, has ballistic equivalence for full range utilization of approximately 40 kilometers. With the framework contract, the proven Assegai ammunition family is being introduced to the Bundeswehr.

The framework contracts contribute to the secure ammunition supply of the Bundeswehr and other NATO armed forces by allowing for better planning of production processes and optimal utilization of capacities. Considering the sustained production of different types of ammunition during the contract period and the resulting shorter availability, the framework agreements also offer logistical advantages to other 155mm users. For Rheinmetall, the contractual arrangement ensures a basic capacity utilization of ammunition production for the next few years.

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