Rheinmetall received a new order for artillery shells for Ukraine

Rheinmetall has booked a further order for artillery ammunition within a framework agreement with the German Bundeswehr.

The company’s official website reported on this.

As part of the new order, the company will manufacture and supply about 100,000 155-mm artillery shells produced by the Spanish company Rheinmetall Expal Munitions.

In addition, another order is intended to produce an additional number of DM121 high-explosive rounds.

All the ammunition is earmarked for Ukraine. The exact value was not disclosed but is said to be in the mid-three-digit million-euro range.

Tens of thousands of rounds are to be delivered in 2023, with the remainder due to ship in 2024.

The framework agreements are part of a larger agreement signed between the Bundeswehr and Rheinmetall in 2019 for the production of 155-mm artillery shells until 2029.

This will replenish the German army’s artillery shell stocks and increase the number of shells transferred for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the future.

More and more NATO countries are now reporting critically low numbers of artillery shells in their army reserves. This is not surprising, as Canadian officials report that Ukraine is firing about 5,000 artillery shells a day. Prior to the full-scale invasion, NATO countries did not pay much attention to the industrial capabilities of artillery shells, but this is changing.

The U.S. Army has signed contracts worth about $1.5 billion to build up reserves of artillery shells. In addition, the country is investing in expanding production and modernizing facilities.

Due to the long idle time of production facilities, plans for monthly production of shells were subject to change. Thus, at the beginning of the production expansion campaign, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition Doug Bush reported in August that 85,000 shells would be produced by 2025, and in September, that figure rose to 100,000 units.

To date, the United States has transferred over 2 million 155-mm artillery shells to Ukraine to meet its needs. According to Western media estimates, Ukraine spends more than 240,000 155-mm shells per month, which is much more than the reserves of most NATO countries.

In addition, the Danish government is working to buy out the land under the former defense plant, which is planned to be used to produce ammunition.

The Minister wants to speed up the process and make efforts to buy back the land on which the munitions plant in Elling, near Frederikshavn, used to be located.

This munitions plant dates back to 1676, when it was founded in Copenhagen under the name Fyrværkerikompagniet.