New Framework Contract Will Include Assegai Family of Munitions
Germany’s armed forces have placed two orders, totalling €1.3 billion (US$1.47 billion), for service and training artillery munitions with Rheinmetall, which is experiencing an upsurge in major artillery ammunition contracts as the need to replenish stores caused by the war in Ukraine persists.
A new framework contract for 155mm rounds, combined with the expansion of an existing framework contract, means that several hundred thousand rounds are to be supplied, together with associated fuzes and propellants, through 2029. In addition, the Bundeswehr has expanded a separate framework contract for the DM121 munition, increasing contract volume from €109 to €246 million. Delivery of initial quantities under both contracts is said to be imminent.
The Rheinmetall family of 155mm artillery ammunition includes DM121 HE, DM125 smoke/obscurant and DM121 SMArt search-fuzed rounds (the latter jointly developed with Diehl Defence), as well as RH68 training and RH1901/1902 smoke/obscurant shells. Also in the comprehensive portfolio is the Assegai family of 155mm rounds from Rheinmetall Denel in South Africa. The Bundeswehr is to introduce the Assegai family – all rounds in which can reach the maximum effective range of 40km – under the framework contract.
