German Bundeswehr orders Rheinmetall concern to produce shells for Ukrainian army

The German Bundeswehr has again called off 155 mm artillery ammunition from Rheinmetall under the framework agreement.

Rheinmetall has been commissioned to supply a total of several tens of thousands shells of various types for the Ukrainian armed forces. The order is worth a three-digit million euro amount. Delivery is scheduled for the course of 2025, according to the statement posted on the concern's website.

The new call-off continues the series of artillery ammunition orders previously placed by the Bundeswehr for the Ukrainian and German armed forces.

In July 2023, Rheinmetall concluded a new framework agreement with the Bundeswehr in the artillery sector. It covers the delivery of several hundred thousand shells, fuses and propelling charges. The new framework agreement runs until 2029 and has a potential gross order volume of around €1.2 billion (including VAT).

The need to replenish stores of ammunition caused by the war in Ukraine is resulting in major artillery ammunition contracts for Rheinmetall.

Rheinmetall’s family of artillery ammunition includes, among other ordnance, the high explosive DM121, the DM125 smoke/obscurant shell, the DM121 SMArt search-fused round (jointly developed with Diehl Defence), as well as the RH68 practice version and the range-optimized RH1901 and RH1902 smoke/obscurant shells.

The Group’s product portfolio also encompasses the versatile Assegai family of 155mm artillery ammunition made by Rheinmetall Denel of South Africa. It includes insensitive munitions (IM), conventional high explosive (HE) rounds, as well as smoke/obscurant, illumination, infrared illumination, and other shells. With its boat tail (BT) and base bleed (BB) configurations, the Assegai family displays a ballistic equilibrium, ensuring that the entire ammunition spectrum can be used at its maximum effective range of approximately 40 kilometres.

Under the framework contract, the Bundeswehr will be introducing the tried-and-tested Assegai ammunition family.  Rheinmetall also offers the artillery family from Rheinmetall Expal Munitions, including the 155mm M107 and 155mm Extended Range.