Military aid to Ukraine
Rheinmetall: More tanks and ammunition to be delivered soon
Turrets from the Marder armored personnel carrier are being processed in a Rheinmetall hall. photo
© Philipp Schulze/dpa
The federal government is supporting Ukraine with billions in military aid. Berlin also relies on Rheinmetall. The company has already received its first orders, and now another one is being added.
The armaments group Rheinmetall wants to deliver more tanks and anti-aircraft ammunition to Ukraine this summer. The company announced at its production site in Unterlüß (Lower Saxony) that the Federal Ministry of Defense had ordered 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles.
The vehicles are to be delivered to the country attacked by Russia by the end of July, they will be paid for by the federal government. How much they cost remains vague. We are talking about a mid-double-digit million euro amount.
40 Marders have already been delivered to Ukraine, 20 of them from Rheinmetall and 20 from Bundeswehr stocks. In addition, the armaments company offers 60 more martens that still need to be renewed. 10 should be completed every month. The Marder has been used by the Bundeswehr since the 1970s and is gradually being replaced by its successor, the Puma. For the Ukraine, Rheinmetall prepares old tanks so that they are suitable for use at the front.
Also by the end of July, the first batch of 35-millimeter ammunition for the anti-aircraft tank Gepard, which is urgently needed in Ukraine, is to be shipped. First, it’s about 10,000 rounds. This ammunition was originally supposed to come from Switzerland, but the Swiss refused to export it for reasons of neutrality. As a result, Rheinmetall built a new facility for cheetah ammunition in Unterlüß.
Cheetah experienced a renaissance in the Ukraine war
The anti-aircraft tank plays an important role in protecting against Russian kamikaze drones in Ukraine. All in all, Rheinmetall has a contract for the delivery of 300,000 rounds of cheetah ammunition. The cheetah was phased out by the Bundeswehr, but experienced something of a renaissance during the Ukraine war.
In addition, Rheinmetall wants to work with a Ukrainian company to produce Fuchs armored personnel carriers in the Eastern European country. This year 40 could be completed, after that it should be up to 100 per year. For this project, however, official approvals and the clarification of financing issues are still missing.
The largest German armaments group with its administrative headquarters in Düsseldorf is on a strong growth course. After the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022, the already high demand for military goods increased again. The company’s incoming orders increased by 18 percent to 5.6 billion euros in 2022. By 2025, the gunsmith is aiming for sales of 10 to 11 billion euros, which would almost double within four years (2021: 5.7 billion). Operating profit soared last year by 27 percent to 0.75 billion euros.
Rheinmetall is expanding, for example the company wants to build a new powder factory in Saxony. The company’s largest plant is in Unterlüß, Lower Saxony, where tanks, ammunition and artillery are built and tested on a 15-kilometer firing range. The plant currently employs 2,400 people, and the number is expected to increase to almost 2,600 by the end of the year.