A European customer has awarded Rheinmetall a contract to supply tank ammunition. Worth over €200 million net, the ammunition will be delivered between 2023 to 2025. Following the major contract for infantry fighting vehicle ammunition reported in April, this is another significant order resulting from the current surge in demand for ammunition. Rheinmetall is the sole single source supplier of newly made 20mm-35mm ammunition for medium-calibre automatic and anti-aircraft cannon of the Marder, Gepard, Puma and similar systems; of 105mm ammunition for the Leopard 1 and 120mm ammunition for the Leopard 2; as well as 155mm artillery shells.
Rheinmetall is one of the world’s leading suppliers of large-calibre weapons and ammunition. The company’s globally acclaimed smoothbore L44 and L55 tank guns combine tremendous firepower with a high first round hit probability, even when the tank is on the move. As the standard NATO smoothbore gun for main battle tanks Leopard 2 and Abrams M1A1, Rheinmetall’s L44 tank gun proved superior to all rivals in the 120 mm arena. Apart from serving as the main armament for the world’s finest main battle tank the Leopard 2 this high-performance gun has been integrated into a number of foreign tanks and is manufactured under licence in the United States.
Particularly in the field of weapons and ammunition, recent technological breakthroughs have let Rheinmetall make a vital contribution to the unsurpassed combat effectiveness of the Leopard Main Battle tank. Rheinmetall’s latest ammunition product is the DM 11, a 120 mm HE tank round. Owing to its time-delay fuse, it is especially suitable for supporting infantry units tasked with taking lightly fortified positions as well as for engaging light and medium-weight armoured vehicles. Rheinmetall also has developed the world’s first temperature-independent high-performance tank ammunition, the DM 63 and DM 53 A1 (the latter is an upgraded version of the DM 53).
The Düsseldorf-based tech enterprise is one of the world’s top makers of weapon and ammunition systems. Its product portfolio ranges from medium-calibre ammunition for infantry fighting vehicles and air defence systems right through to aircraft cannon and high-energy laser applications. Rheinmetall is currently building an additional production line for medium-calibre ammunition at its plant in Unterlüß, which will enable it to meet heightened demand for air defence munitions starting this summer. Moreover, the Group has the capacity to make large-scale deliveries at short notice.
