Germany to order additional 200,000 artillery shells from Rheinmetall - Reuters
Photo: Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger (Getty Images)
The German army intends to order 200,000 more artillery shells from weapons manufacturer Rheinmetall than it had planned, according to a letter from the German Defense Ministry to the parliamentary budget committee.
Germany plans to receive 200,000 additional 155-mm artillery shells worth about 880 million euros under a framework agreement with a defense company, the letter says. The German army has already agreed to a €1.2 billion deal for several hundred thousand shells, fuses, and charges.
The new shells are intended to replenish army stockpiles as Germany helps supply weapons to Ukraine, which is fighting the Russian military that invaded in 2022.
While Western governments are bolstering their armies and replenishing stockpiles after supplying weapons to Kyiv, Rheinmetall, whose market value has more than quadrupled since the start of the war in Ukraine, is seeing a sharp increase in orders.
By placing the order, the German Defense Ministry also wants to ensure that Rheinmetall can install a new production line in the central German city of Unterluss.
Orders from Rheinmetall
Earlier, the company reported that one of the NATO member states ordered the supply of artillery ammunition for almost 300 million euros. Deliveries will be made in the period from 2024 to 2028.
In addition, one of the European countries ordered hundreds of millions of euros worth of air defense shells from Rheinmetall. These are ammunition for Skynex systems.
