Rheinmetall has booked a major order for 155 mm artillery ammunition following a second call-off under an existing framework order with the German government, the company announced on 6 October 2023.
Berlin has contracted Rheinmetall to supply tens of thousands of L15 rounds to the Ukrainian armed forces as well as conventional 155 mm Assegai shells for the German military. The order is worth a figure in the lower-three-digit- million-euro range, according to Rheinmetall, with deliveries scheduled to take place in 2024.
Rheinmetall secured a framework agreement with the German government to supply ammunition of all types back in 2017, but in July 2023 the company announced the signing of a new framework agreement for artillery ammunition with the Bundeswehr and the expansion of its existing agreement. The contracts encompass the delivery of several hundred thousand shells, fuzes and propelling charges.
The recently concluded framework agreement for 155 mm artillery ammunition runs until 2029 and represents a gross potential order value of around EUR 1.2 Bn. The first orders of service and practice ammunition came directly after the contract was signed.
The war in Ukraine has compelled the armed forces of numerous nations to replenish their ammunition stocks. In this context Rheinmetall has already booked several large orders for artillery ammunition.
Rheinmetall’s family of artillery ammunition includes the high-explosive DM121 shell, the DM125 smoke/obscurant projectile and (jointly developed with Diehl) the DM702 SMArt sensor-fuzed munition, plus the RH68 practice round and the range-optimised RH1901 and RH1902 smoke/obscurant projectiles. The group’s portfolio also includes the versatile 155 mm Assegai family from Rheinmetall Denel Munition, which encompasses insensitive ammunition and conventional high-explosive shells as well as smoke/obscurant, illumination, infrared illumination and other projectiles. All Assegai artillery ammunition types have a maximum range of around 40 km. Under the latest framework agreement the Assegai ammunition family will now be entering service with the Bundeswehr.
