German Rheinmetall reveals possible launch of HIMARS production

German automotive and arms manufacturer Rheinmetall AG might begin to produce HIMARS light multiple rocket launchers that are being actively used by the Ukrainian army, the company's CEO, Armin Papperger, told Reuters news agency on January 29.

Papperger said that his company is in talks with the producer of the HIMARS, the US company Lockheed Martin.

"At the Munich Security Conference (in the middle of February), we aim to strike an agreement with Lockheed Martin to kick off a HIMARS production (in Germany)," he said.

Papperger added that such a boost in munition production requires hundreds of euros of investment, but that Rheinmetall is ready to fund a large part of it.

 "We have the technology for the production of the warheads as well as for the rocket motors – and we have the trucks to mount the launchers upon," the CEO added.

Ukraine’s use of HIMARS since obtaining the system in the summer has allowed it to attack invading Russian forces’ ammunition depots, command posts, and barracks with incredible accuracy and force.

The system is credited in Ukraine with blunting the Russian invasion forces’ attacks and allowing Ukraine to seize the initiative in the full-scale war launched by Russia on February 24 last year.

Since taking delivery of HIMARS, Ukraine has liberated around half the territory seized by Russian invasion forces since the beginning of the invasion, including almost all of Kharkiv Oblast and the part of Kherson Oblast on the right (western) bank of the River Dnipro.

The system was used to put the Anonivsky bridge across the Dnipro near Kherson out of commission, forcing the Russians to build a pontoon bridge, and operate a ferry.

That complicated Russian logistics to the extent that the Russian command was forced to order Russian invasion forces to retreat from right-bank Kherson Oblast in early November.

Advancing Ukrainian forces liberated the city of Kherson on November 7.

The capacity for the production of 155mm artillery rounds can be ramped up to 450,000 to 500,000 per year, he added, which would make Rheinmetall the biggest producer of both kinds of ammunition.

In 2022, Rheinmetall made some 60,000 to 70,000 rounds each of tank and artillery shells, according to Papperger, who said production could be boosted immediately.

Demand for these munitions has soared since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last February, not only due to their massive use on the battlefield but also as Western militaries backfill their own stocks, bracing for what they see as a heightened threat from Moscow.

Papperger said a new production line for medium calibre ammunition, used by German-built Gepard anti-aircraft tanks in Ukraine for example, would go live by mid-year.

Germany has been trying for months to find new munitions for the Gepard that its own military had decommissioned in 2010.