Rheinmetall to deliver 100,000 rounds of mortar ammunition to Ukraine

GRAZ, Austria — German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall will produce around 100,000 rounds of mortar ammunition for Ukraine as part of the German government’s military support for the eastern European nation, the company said on Wednesday.

German defense officials announced a bundle of military aid in September, totaling €400 million, or $430 million. In a press release, the government said the deliveries would include “105,000 rounds of 120-millimeter caliber explosive, smoke and flare mortar ammunition.”

To that end, a “low three-digit million euro” amount will go toward the 120-millimeter mortar ammunition produced by Rheinmetall, according to the company’s Nov. 8 statement. Delivery was set to commence “shortly” and continue over the next two years.

In August, the Düsseldorf-based arms giant completed its acquisition of the Spanish munitions manufacturer Expal following regulatory approval after first announcing the move in November 2022. The purchase price was announced as being €1.2 billion, according to a Rheinmetall statement. The company said the acquisition would help expand production capacity to meet a “strong global demand for ammunitions [which is] set to continue to grow.”

The defense ministry had spent a total of €4.2 billion on aid to Ukraine by the end of August, a list compiled by the German government shows. The same document claims the overall German support to Kyiv since the large-scale Russian invasion started in February of 2022 amounted to €24 billion by Sept. 15 of this year.

In addition to hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition, the September military aid package would also include 200 mine-resistant, ambush-protected (MRAP) combat vehicles for mine-clearing operations, 50 unmanned surface vehicles – seafaring drones – and personal equipment to boost the Ukrainian army’s readiness for winter combat, the German government said.

Since then, Berlin announced another round of support for Kyiv in October, which includes air defense systems and further munitions.

The deliveries would consist of a mix of materiel from existing Bundeswehr stocks and some freshly produced by Germany’s arms industry, according to officials.

Rheinmetall’s defense business has seen substantial growth amid Europe’s military aid pledges for Ukraine. The company on Thursday reported that new orders were up by 42% in the third quarter, leaving a backlog of work worth €36.5 billion.

CEO Armin Papperger described the company’s expansion of manufacturing capabilities as key contributors to the company’s position in the ammunitions market.

“The integration of our latest acquisition, the Spanish munitions manufacturer Expal Systems, has got off to a successful start,” he said. “Furthermore, we have massively increased our additional capacities. As one of the world’s leading ammunition producers, we can make a considerable contribution in this set-up to ensuring Ukraine’s ability to defend itself in this area and to replenishing the supplies of NATO partners.”

Rheinmetall this summer was ranked 19th in the annual Defense News Top 100 list of the world’s largest defense contractors, up from 29th the previous year.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

奥地利格拉茨——德国武器制造商莱茵金属公司周三表示，作为德国政府对这个东欧国家军事支持的一部分，该公司将为乌克兰生产约 10 万发迫击炮弹药。

德国国防部官员9月份宣布了一项总额为4亿欧元（约合4.3亿美元）的军事援助计划。德国政府在一份新闻稿中表示，这批援助物资将包括“10.5万发120毫米口径的爆炸性、烟雾性和照明性迫击炮弹药”。

为此，莱茵金属公司在11月8日的声明中表示，将向该公司采购数亿欧元（低三位数）的120毫米迫击炮弹药。交付工作预计“很快”开始，并将持续两年。

总部位于杜塞尔多夫的军火巨头莱茵金属公司于8月完成了对西班牙弹药制造商Expal的收购，此前该公司已获得监管部门批准。莱茵金属公司于2022年11月首次宣布了这项收购计划。根据莱茵金属公司的声明，收购价格为12亿欧元。该公司表示，此次收购将有助于扩大产能，以满足“全球对弹药的强劲需求，而且这种需求还将持续增长”。

德国政府编制的一份清单显示，截至8月底，德国国防部已向乌克兰提供了总计42亿欧元的援助。同一份文件还称，自2022年2月俄罗斯大规模入侵乌克兰以来，截至今年9月15日，德国对基辅的总援助金额已达240亿欧元。

德国政府表示，除了数十万发子弹外，9 月份的军事援助计划还将包括 200 辆防地雷反伏击车（MRAP）用于扫雷行动，50 艘无人水面舰艇（海上无人机）以及个人装备，以提高乌克兰军队的冬季作战准备能力。

此后，柏林在 10 月份宣布了对基辅的另一轮援助，其中包括防空系统和更多弹药。

据官员称，交付的物资将包括德国联邦国防军现有库存的物资和德国军工企业新生产的一些物资。

在欧洲承诺向乌克兰提供军事援助的背景下，莱茵金属公司的防务业务实现了显著增长。该公司周四公布，第三季度新订单增长了42%，积压订单价值达365亿欧元。

首席执行官阿明·帕珀格表示，公司制造能力的扩张是公司在弹药市场占据地位的关键因素。

“我们最新收购的西班牙弹药制造商Expal Systems的整合工作已经顺利启动，”他说道。“此外，我们的产能也大幅提升。作为世界领先的弹药生产商之一，我们能够为确保乌克兰在这一地区的自卫能力以及补充北约伙伴国的弹药供应做出重大贡献。”

今年夏天，莱茵金属公司在《防务新闻》年度全球最大国防承包商100强榜单中排名第19位，比上一年的第29位有所上升。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。