Rheinmetall to deliver hand grenades to Estonia and 40 mm ammunition to Lithuania

Rheinmetall has received various orders from Estonia and Lithuania for the delivery of infantry ammunition, the company announced on 31 July 2025.

The orders have a total value of around EUR 33 million.

Estonia awarded Rheinmetall a framework contract in the second quarter of 2025 for the delivery of hand grenades. Splinter grenades are to be delivered in 2026 and 2027, while offensive hand grenades will be delivered from 2026 to 2029 – in significant numbers in each case, according to Rheinmetall. This order is worth around EUR 17 million gross.

Back in December 2024 Lithuania had already placed an order with Rheinmetall for several tens of thousands of 40 mm × 46 high-explosive fragmentation (HE Frag) combat cartridges. This order is worth around EUR 16 million gross, with the ammunition to be delivered in 2026 and 2027.

Rheinmetall noted that its 40 mm × 46 low-velocity (LV) ammunition, which is also used by other NATO countries, can be used in all standard grenade launchers and attachable grenade launchers in this calibre. The rounds reach a velocity of 76 m/s and have an effective range of 400 m.

Compared to LV cartridges, the new 40 mm × 46 medium-velocity (MV) ammunition has an acceleration of around 100 m/s and a flat trajectory, allowing targets to be attacked faster and out to ranges of 900 m. In 2025 Rheinmetall will bring into series production its Squad Support Weapon 40: “the world’s first magazine-fed automatic shoulder-fired grenade launcher, capable of firing MV and LV ammunition”.

Rheinmetall’s 40 mm ammunition range also includes 40 mm × 53 ammunition (high velocity) for automatic grenade launchers, which has a muzzle velocity of 130 m/s and a range of up to 2,000 m.