Rheinmetall officially opens Europe's largest ammunition plant

German defense concern Rheinmetall AG officially opens Europe's largest ammunition plant in Unterlüs near Hanover. About writes Bloomberg.

The opening ceremony will be attended by the company's CEO Armin Papperger, the Minister of Finance and Vice Chancellor of Germany Lars Klingbeil, the Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Construction of the plant started in early 2024 with the participation of the then Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The first tests of the equipment began in the second quarter of 2025.

When the plant reaches its full capacity in 2027, it will be able to produce up to 350,000 artillery shells per year. Investments in the project amounted to about €500 million. It will provide more than 500 jobs.

The new plant in northwestern Germany consists of two buildings, one for the production of 155 mm artillery shells and the other for loading, assembly and packaging.

Starting in 2026, they also plan to produce rocket launchers.

Rheinmetall is expanding its production capacity across Europe: the company already has plants in Spain and Hungary, is building a new one in Lithuania and is in talks with Latvia.

The company also plans to open an ammunition production facility in Ukraine, where it already has a tank repair center. However, the launch of this project has been delayed due to bureaucratic procedures and requires additional funding.

• On August 26, it became known that Rheinmetall will build two plants in Bulgaria: one will produce gunpowder and charges, and the other will produce 155-mm shells according to NATO standards.