Rheinmetall Offers Poland Large-Scale Localization of Weapons Production

The German defense concern Rheinmetall has offered Poland a number of joint projects involving the localization of armored vehicle, artillery system, rocket launcher and ammunition production.

This was reported by Business Insider Polska, which reviewed a letter from Rheinmetall’s Polish subsidiary to the Polish Ministry of National Defense.

One of the key projects could be the construction of Rheinmetall’s first plant in Poland, which would produce modular MCS projectiles for 155 mm artillery ammunition.

The concern also proposed establishing production in Poland of a family of heavy tracked support vehicles based on the Leopard 2 platform. The family would include ARV3 armored recovery vehicles, AEV3 engineering vehicles and bridge layers.

Once production begins, these vehicles are planned to be supplied simultaneously to the Polish and German armies. Rheinmetall expects Polish companies to account for at least 50% of the supply chain.

“From the point of view of the Polish Army, this proposal is absolutely absurd. The strategic direction was determined long ago — these are the M1 Abrams and K2 Black Panther tanks. After the last T-72 and PT-91 tanks are decommissioned, Leopard 2 tanks will become the oldest tanks in the Polish Army and the next to be retired. Therefore, the Leopard 2 platform has no prospects in the Polish Army. In my opinion, this is Germany’s last desperate attempt to maintain at least some presence in Poland,” said Damian Ratka, a Polish armored vehicle expert and editor at Defence24, in a comment to Militarnyi.

At the same time, BAE Systems has already signed a memorandum of understanding with two Polish defense companies on the potential localization of M88A2 armored recovery vehicle production in Poland.

A separate area involves the creation of military logistics vehicles based on trucks from the MAN plant in Niepołomice. The Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) would be responsible for converting them for military use, while maintenance would be provided by more than 30 MAN service centers in Poland.

Rheinmetall also proposed establishing joint production of 30 mm automatic cannons with Huta Stalowa Wola. The project involves the transfer of technology and the creation of a full production cycle, including the manufacture of barrels and ammunition.

Another proposal concerns the joint production of GMARS launchers and missiles. The system was jointly developed by Rheinmetall and Lockheed Martin. It is compatible with HIMARS ammunition, carries twice as much ammunition and could supplement Poland’s Homar-K systems based on the K239 Chunmoo.

The German concern also plans to involve PGZ companies in the supply chain for Boxer wheeled armored personnel carriers to fulfill German orders, which could include several thousand vehicles. In the future, the platform could be offered to the Polish Army.

In addition, Rheinmetall has proposed launching the production of 120 mm tank ammunition in Poland together with PGZ. According to the concern, this could help unify the range of ammunition for Poland’s diverse tank fleet.

As the publication notes, Rheinmetall currently has no production facilities in Poland but maintains offices in Warsaw and Gliwice. For more than ten years, the concern has cooperated with PGZ on the modernization of Polish Leopard 2A4 tanks to the Leopard 2PL standard.