Rheinmetall Plans to Deliver First Batches of Its Own ATACMS Missiles in 2028

German defense contractor Rheinmetall plans to begin production of U.S.-made ATACMS ballistic missiles at its facility in Unterlüs and expects to see the first profits from the project in 2028.

This was announced by the company’s CEO, Armin Papperger, during a conference, according to hartpunkt.

The production line is scheduled to be deployed in 2027, and serial assembly is expected to begin at the end of that same year.

It was previously reported that production of rocket engines and guided missile components at the German facility is planned to begin as early as 2027.

As part of the project, the companies have established a joint venture with the support of the U.S. and German governments, which will serve as a European center for the production, integration, and maintenance of missile systems for the armed forces of NATO countries and allies.

The relocation of production capacity is driven by Lockheed Martin’s need to free up its own assembly lines in the U.S. for the production of the new Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), which is replacing the ATACMS in the U.S. Army’s arsenal.

This decision means the complete relocation of U.S. production of these ballistic missiles to Germany, unlike the production of PAC-2 GEM-T anti-aircraft missiles in Schrobenhausen, where the U.S. production line continues to operate in parallel.

The site in Unterlüsse (Lower Saxony), where Rheinmetall already manufactures 155 mm artillery shells, will also be expanded with a new rocket engine plant, which is scheduled to begin operations in the first quarter of 2027.

Development of the operational-tactical system began in the late 1970s in the U.S. to engage the enemy’s second echelon of troops. The program was launched in 1982 under the name ATACMS.

The missile is approximately 4 meters long and has a diameter of 610 millimeters. Its solid-fuel engine allows the missile to accelerate to speeds exceeding Mach 3 during flight. It is launched from M270 MLRS tracked launchers or M142 HIMARS wheeled systems.

The first version, the MGM-140A Block I, had a range of 128 km and a cluster warhead containing 950 submunitions. The MGM-140B Block IA variant features GPS satellite navigation, a reduced cluster warhead with 275 submunitions, and a range of up to 300 km.

The current version, the MGM-168A Block IA QRU, is equipped with a 230-kg high-explosive fragmentation warhead and has a range of up to 300 km.