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MILITARY

Germany’s Rheinmetall to create new munitions facility

German manufacturer Rheinmetall will open a new domestic facility to produce equipment for its Gepard anti-aircraft guns, the company said Thursday after Bern banned Germany from sending Swiss-made Gepard munitions to Ukraine.

Published: 15 December 2022 16:47 CET
Bundeswehr training in Brandenburg
Bundeswehr soldiers undergo training with an automated tank in Brandenburg. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Fabian Sommer

“Rheinmetall has decided to open a new production line in Germany for medium-calibre ammunition” which will include “the possibility of producing 35mm ammunition for the Gepard air defence system”, the company said in a statement sent to AFP.

The facility will be completed in January 2023 and will begin producing munitions from June, Rheinmetall added, without specifying where it will be located.

The new line will help “restore the German army’s defence capability” and “fill the gaps created by support to Ukraine”, Rheinmetall added.

Germany has sent Gepard systems and munitions to Ukraine as part of a package of weapons to help the country repel Russia’s invasion.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How Germany plans to rebuild its military

But Germany’s own production of munitions is limited and earlier this year it asked Switzerland for authorisation to send Ukraine 12,400 pieces of Swiss-made ammunition.

Switzerland declined, reasoning that authorising the deal would compromise its neutrality.

Rheinmetall did not directly reference the Swiss veto but said a central aim of the new production line was to “make the ammunition supply in Germany independent of foreign production sites again”.

More generally, the group said it had a “responsibility to help the federal government restore the necessary defence capability of the army”.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine marked a big turning point in German defence policy, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz announcing a €100 billion ($106-billion) fund to upgrade the army, known as the Bundeswehr.

Scholz in September vowed to transform the country’s military into the “best equipped” in Europe.

READ ALSO: Germany signs contract to buy ‘world’s most advanced’ fighter jets

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MILITARY

France and Germany sign deal on ‘tank of the future’

France and Germany on Friday firmed up plans to jointly develop a next-generation battle tank equipped with artificial intelligence and laser technology, billed as a game changer in modern warfare.

Published: 27 April 2024 09:21 CEST
France and Germany sign deal on 'tank of the future'

During a ceremony in Paris, the defence ministers of France and Germany, Sebastien Lecornu and Boris Pistorius, signed a memorandum of understanding that seals a 50-50 split in the industrial production of an advanced battle tank dubbed the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS).

The push to move ahead with the project comes as Berlin and Paris are eager to show unity after a series of spats on how to support Ukraine in its war against Russia.

In 2017, Germany and France agreed to jointly develop the next-generation battle tank as a successor to the French Leclerc and German Leopard tanks, starting in 2040.

But the tank plans have faced delays amid rivalry between French and German industrial companies, and different priorities in Berlin and Paris.

In March, the two ministers announced in Berlin they had managed to unblock the stalled project by agreeing how to split the work between the two countries.

“Today’s signing is a real milestone”, Pistorius told reporters.

“This is not the tank of the future but the future of the tank,” Lecornu added.

The tank system will have cutting-edge technology that could usher in a new era in land warfare.

The MGCS will consist not just of one armoured fighting vehicle but a system of manned and unmanned vehicles. It will include drones to protect the tank as well as the use of artificial intelligence and laser technology.

Funded in equal parts by Paris and Berlin and run under German management, the project was originally led by defence industry firm KNDS, a tie-up between Nexter from France and Germany’s KMW.

But the delicate balance was upset when Germany’s Rheinmetall joined the project in 2019.

Friday’s agreement designates manufacturers to be responsible for key components of the tank systems including platforms, turrets and guns.

Talks are beginning with manufacturers to develop an initial demonstrator, a sort of pre-prototype.

“The aim is to have the contracts in place by the end of the year, which is very ambitious,” Pistorius said.

With countries like Italy keen to join, Pistorius said the project would be open to partners, “but we already need to draw up contracts” between French and German manufacturers.

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