Rheinmetall will produce €8.5 billion value of shells for Berlin, Kiev and others
The German authorities has awarded an €8.5 billion contract to weapons agency Rheinmetall for the manufacturing of 155mm artillery shells. Rheinmetall mentioned that many of those shells will probably be despatched to Ukraine, however the firm’s manufacturing capability lags far behind Kiev’s wants.
Rheinmetall introduced the contract on Thursday, stating that the €8.5 billion ($9.1 billion) order is the biggest within the firm’s 135-year historical past. Rheinmetall didn’t state what number of shells can be made for this value, however mentioned that the ammo can be used to replenish German, Danish, Dutch, and Estonian shares, in addition to “to help Ukraine in its defensive battle.”
Germany can pay for Ukraine’s share of the order, the corporate acknowledged.
The primary deliveries are because of start in 2025, with round a tenth of the shells constructed at Rheinmetall’s new manufacturing facility in Decrease Saxony, which remains to be beneath development. The plant is anticipated to supply round 100,000 shells yearly from its second 12 months of operation onwards, whereas Rheinmetall mentioned final month that it goals to supply 700,000 shells throughout all of its factories subsequent 12 months.
Nonetheless, Ukraine has demanded excess of 700,000 shells per 12 months. In keeping with EU estimates, Russia was firing this quantity each 35 days throughout Ukraine’s so-called counteroffensive final summer time. Earlier this 12 months, Ukrainian officers declared that they would wish 20,000 per day to maintain their Western-supplied weapons firing on the similar tempo.
Regardless of spending a whole lot of billions of {dollars} on navy help to Ukraine, the West has struggled to fabricate sufficient artillery shells and ship them to Kiev. After promising final March to ship one million 155mm projectiles inside a 12 months, the EU admitted three months in the past that it had missed this goal by half. Likewise, whereas the US has given Ukraine greater than two million 155mm shells for the reason that battle started in 2022, American arms factories can solely produce round 28,000 of those projectiles monthly, though the Pentagon plans to nearly quadruple this quantity by subsequent 12 months.
Rheinmetall acknowledged final 12 months {that a} single 155mm shell prices at the very least €3,600 ($3,813), and that this value would rise additional because the Ukraine battle drags on. Theoretically, €8.5 billion may purchase greater than 300 million shells, though it could take the corporate greater than 4 centuries to construct this many, assuming it reaches its manufacturing aim of 700,000 per 12 months.
Russia has repeatedly warned the West that continued arms deliveries to Ukraine won’t swing the battle in Kiev’s favor, and can solely serve to delay the bloodshed whereas growing the chance of a cataclysmic conflict between Russia and NATO.
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