Rheinmetall AG

Background

Armin Papperger remains Rheinmetall's CEO, appointed through 31 December 2029; Klaus Neumann became CFO and René Gansauge COO on 1 January 2025, and Vera Saal became CHRO and Labour Director on 1 September 2025, according to Rheinmetall's executive-board biographies.

Rheinmetall recorded 35,971 group full-time equivalents at 30 June 2026, including 29,636 in continuing operations and 6,334 in discontinued operations, with rounding differences, in its H1 financial report.

Rheinmetall's NVL acquisition was announced in 2025 and completed on 27 February 2026, with the transition concluded on 1 March, according to Rheinmetall's closing announcement and H1 financial report. Rheinmetall signed an agreement on 3 June to sell its civilian automotive/Power Systems business to AEQUITA for a provisional €350 million, subject to adjustments and regulatory approvals, with closing expected in Q4 2026, according to its sale announcement.

Rheinmetall completed its 51% acquisition of DOK-ING on 1 July, with founder Vjekoslav Majetić retaining 49% and the business operating as Rheinmetall Unmanned Vehicles d.o.o., according to its closing announcement. Rheinmetall and MSC won the Mangalia shipyard auction for approximately €138 million, with completion still pending and expected within weeks in Rheinmetall's 19 October announcement.

Rheinmetall said its Unterlüß ammunition plant opened in September 2025 after almost €500 million of investment, with planned annual output of 140,000 artillery rounds in 2026 and 350,000 at full capacity in 2027, in its opening announcement. Rheinmetall's newer network-wide capacity targets are approximately 1.1 million 155 mm rounds annually in 2027 and 1.5 million in 2030, according to its September 2026 presentation. Rheinmetall said its approximately €350 million Aschau expansion would increase annual powder output from about 1,700 to 4,200 tonnes, with phased production from 2027 and maximum capacity in 2028, in its July announcement.

Rheinmetall said its approximately €20 million Albacete expansion provides annual capacity for 1.2 million projectiles and 1.8 million cartridge cases in 20–35 mm calibres, with the components sent elsewhere for ammunition manufacture, in its October announcement. Rheinmetall said its Telford UK Gun Hall officially opened on 22 October 2026 after breech production began in May and barrel production in June, with peak annual capacity of up to 245 barrels and more than 50 breeches, in its opening announcement.

Rheinmetall's Baisogala plan called for initial operation and line qualification during 2026, followed by a gradual ramp in 2027 depending on orders, in its Lithuanian groundbreaking announcement.

Bulgaria's economy minister said negotiations with Rheinmetall were restarting, no VMZ–Rheinmetall joint venture had been founded and financing had not been budgeted, while Rheinmetall's representative said the strategic goals remained, The Sofia Globe reported.

Linked records

Wired to the rest of BattlePolicy — the systems it builds in the Lexicon and the contracts it wins in the Procurement Tracker. Every link below is a record in our own datasets.

Financial footing

• Record order backlog of €63.8bn at end-2025 (up 36% YoY)
• Key programs: Bundeswehr Leopard 2 A8 and 8x8 Boxer (incl. multi-billion UK/German orders), HX2 trucks, and Skyranger/Skynex air defense for European buyers
• Nordic states (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden) drove 2025 ammunition order intake
• The 155mm ramp: Unterlüss plant (Lower Saxony) opened Sept 2025 (~€500m, Europe's largest), scaling to 350,000 rounds/yr by 2027
• ~1.5m shells/yr network-wide targeted from 2027
• Ukraine is the top customer of its Weapon & Ammunition division
• CONFIRMED: Rheinmetall Ukrainian Defence Industry JV (Kyiv, operational — vehicle repair + Lynx)
• ANNOUNCED / UNDER CONSTRUCTION: a 155mm ammunition plant inside Ukraine, production targeted for 2026 (not yet operational; delayed by bureaucracy)
• Backers: Institutional investors 58%, private shareholders 28%, others 14% (Rheinmetall ownership analysis, 31 December 2025), BlackRock 7.17% voting rights attached to shares plus 0.16% through instruments (BlackRock notification, holdings dated 27 February 2026)

Rheinmetall reported 2025 continuing-operation sales of €9.935 billion, an operating result of €1.841 billion, an 18.5% operating margin and €63.8 billion of Rheinmetall Backlog, excluding the civilian business classified as discontinued operations, in its annual results.

Rheinmetall's H1 2026 continuing-operation sales reached €5.227 billion, up 39%, while its operating result rose 74% to €786 million and its operating margin reached 15.0%, according to its half-year results. Rheinmetall reported negative continuing-operation operating free cash flow of €1.616 billion, attributed to payment timing, inventories, receivables and investment, in the same results release.

Rheinmetall Backlog totalled €80.467 billion at 30 June 2026, comprising €56.342 billion of Order Backlog and €24.126 billion of Frame Backlog, while H1 order intake was €14.946 billion and nominations were €16.238 billion, including €11.371 billion in Q2, according to Rheinmetall's H1 financial report.

Rheinmetall reduced its 2026 sales forecast by €300 million to €13.7–14.2 billion following cancellation of Germany's F126 programme, while retaining organic growth guidance of 28–31% and an approximately 19% operating-margin expectation, in its H1 results. Rheinmetall said June's naval backlog still included €2.1 billion for F126, projected year-end group backlog above €100 billion and lowered planned 2026 capital expenditure from approximately 16% of sales to 8–9%, in its September presentation.

Rheinmetall placed a €500 million bond on 21 May 2026, completed on 28 May, with a 3.375% coupon and May 2031 maturity, according to its bond announcement. Rheinmetall renewed and expanded its syndicated credit facility from €750 million to €1.5 billion for general corporate purposes, according to its 8 October announcement.

Conversions of existing convertible bonds increased Rheinmetall's issued shares to 46,777,223 during H1 and 46,789,567 in early July, according to Rheinmetall's H1 financial report.

Major customers & contracts

Joined live from the Procurement & Contracts Tracker — real award/announcement records.

Further disclosed customers & programs (public reporting):

Romania signed approximately €5.7 billion of contracts on 29 May 2026 for 298 Lynx-family vehicles, air defence, ammunition and four naval vessels under SAFE, with deliveries scheduled for 2028–2030, according to Rheinmetall.

Romania's Ministry of Defence specified a €3.337 billion ex-VAT IFV framework, a €920 million ex-VAT naval contract and €449.75 million ex-VAT for 401,760 AHEAD rounds in its statement reproduced by Agerpres. Rheinmetall said the package includes 24 Skyranger 35 units on Lynx, seven Skynex systems and two Millennium guns in its June announcement, while the ministry's statement reproduced by Agerpres described two Skyranger systems.

Germany's TaWAN LBO framework runs for ten years with an initial €1.88 billion gross call-off, while its IdZ-ES framework has a €3.1 billion gross ceiling through 2030 and an initial approximately €417 million gross order, according to Rheinmetall's TaWAN and IdZ-ES announcements.

The Bundeswehr signed an FV-014 loitering-munition contract on 22 April 2026 with an initial approximately €300 million gross call-off; Rheinmetall described a framework worth billions and scheduled deliveries from H1 2027 after qualification in its contract announcement. Germany called off 149 additional mobile rescue stations for more than €500 million gross, bringing orders to 165 systems worth over €600 million gross, according to Rheinmetall.

The Netherlands ordered mobile and stationary Skyranger configurations for less than €1 billion, with deliveries from late 2028 through 2029, Defense News reported. An unnamed export customer ordered four complete Skynex systems for several hundred million euros in Q2 2026, according to Rheinmetall's contract announcement.

An undisclosed international customer ordered a low-five-figure quantity of 155 mm projectiles for a low-three-digit-million-euro value recognised in Q3 2026, according to Rheinmetall.

Rheinmetall recorded €1.0 billion of direct Ukraine sales and €2.2 billion of Ukraine backlog for FY2025 in its September presentation.

Leadership & contact surface

Leadership: Armin Papperger (CEO)
Official site: https://www.rheinmetall.com

Competitive position

Rheinmetall and KNDS jointly supply Puma infantry fighting vehicles through PSM, including Germany's 200-vehicle follow-on procurement worth €4.2 billion gross, divided approximately equally between the partners, according to Rheinmetall's procurement announcement.

Rheinmetall's June 2025 development agreement with Anduril covers European variants of Barracuda and Fury, integration with Battlesuite and exploration of solid-rocket-motor opportunities, according to its partnership announcement. Rheinmetall and Boeing Australia agreed to offer MQ-28 Ghost Bat to Germany with a 2029 capability target and proposed German system-management, integration and support responsibilities for Rheinmetall, according to its March announcement.

Rheinmetall and Lockheed Martin signed a memorandum on European ATACMS co-production intended for Unterlüß, as a step toward a joint venture, with rocket-motor and guided-missile-component production scheduled from 2027, according to Rheinmetall's July announcement.

Rheinmetall and Destinus said their proposed missile venture would be owned 51% by Rheinmetall and 49% by Destinus, with establishment targeted for H2 2026 subject to regulatory approval, in Rheinmetall's April announcement.

Rheinmetall ICEYE Space Solutions received an approximately €1.7 billion gross SPOCK 1 contract running from late 2025 through 2030 with extension options, according to Rheinmetall's contract announcement.

Rheinmetall announced on 6 October 2026 that the Bundeswehr had direct access to dedicated SAR satellites and that satellite production had commenced in Neuss, in its programme update. Rheinmetall Italia and Argotec said their first jointly developed satellite launched on 1 October 2026 and entered an in-orbit validation programme, in their launch announcement.

Rheinmetall and Praetorian Aeronautics presented the AERIE containerised counter-drone prototype with operator demonstrations scheduled for Q4 2026, according to Rheinmetall's October announcement.

Rheinmetall also reported a Boxer demonstration with Breaker in which a crew member controlled drones by voice, in its human-machine-teaming announcement.

Battlefield relevance

Ukraine's Air Command West credited a featured Skynex system with destroying 34 Shahed-type drones and two Kh-101 missiles, alongside a video showing a cruise-missile engagement, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Militarnyi, relaying Stern's reporting on an internal Ukrainian assessment, reported technical failures affecting three of eight Skynex guns during an April 1, 2026 attack and an incoming drone reaching an industrial target; Rheinmetall rejected the allegations and described Skynex as effective and reliable, according to Militarnyi's account.

Rheinmetall contracted to supply Ukraine's first five Lynx KF41 IFVs with German financing under a December 2025 order worth a mid-double-digit-million-euro amount, with initial deliveries scheduled for early 2026, according to its January announcement. Rheinmetall said in its September Ukraine update that it had handed over Lynx vehicles and Skyranger 35 systems on Leopard 1 chassis, delivered hundreds of thousands of 155 mm and Gepard ammunition rounds, and operated a vehicle-repair base in western Ukraine through its Ukrainian joint venture.

Ukrainian series production of Lynx remained a subsequent step in Rheinmetall's January announcement, while Papperger said financing still needed securing for local armoured-vehicle production in his 14 January Ukrinform interview. Papperger also said a new site had been allocated for the Ukrainian ammunition factory but organisational and regulatory issues remained before construction could begin, in the same Ukrinform interview.

German procurement documents and BAAINBw responses showed an at-least-11-month delay to the Boxer-based Schwerer Waffenträger Infanterie programme and a shift in Skyranger 30 series-delivery start from mid-2026 to around mid-2027, Capital reported; Rheinmetall disputed aspects of the account and emphasised its contractual delivery schedule.

Sources & verification

• Rheinmetall — Financial report: Financial figures FY 2025 (2026-03-11)
• Rheinmetall — A new era: Ammunition factory opening in Unterlüss (2025-09-05)
• DW — Germany: Rheinmetall opens new artillery ammunition factory (2025-08-27)
• Euromaidan Press — Rheinmetall to double 155mm shell production at new plant in Ukraine (2025-08-11)
• Carnegie Endowment — Rebalancing the Transatlantic Defense-Industrial Relationship (2025-12-22)
• CEPA — War Without End: Deterring Russia's Shadow War (2026-03-31)
• Wikipedia — Rheinmetall (headcount, RUDI JV registration, corporate history)
• BBN Times — DAX losses as Rheinmetall shares plummet 18.6% on F126 frigate report (2026)
• Rheinmetall
• Romania's Ministry of Defence
• Rheinmetall announced
• Rheinmetall
• Rheinmetall ownership analysis
• BlackRock notification
• Stock Analysis
• Rheinmetall's sale announcement
• SPOCK 1 contract announcement
• expansion under construction in Quebec
• completed DOK-ING majority acquisition
• April production announcement
• Rheinmetall's executive-board biographies
• H1 financial report
• Rheinmetall's closing announcement
• Rheinmetall's 19 October announcement
• September 2026 presentation
• July announcement
• October announcement
• opening announcement
• Lithuanian groundbreaking announcement
• The Sofia Globe reported
• half-year results
• bond announcement
• 8 October announcement
• June announcement
• TaWAN
• IdZ-ES
• contract announcement
• Rheinmetall
• Defense News reported
• Rheinmetall's contract announcement
• Rheinmetall
• Ukrainska Pravda reported
• Militarnyi's account
• January announcement
• September Ukraine update
• 14 January Ukrinform interview
• Capital reported
• partnership announcement
• March announcement
• Rheinmetall's July announcement
• Rheinmetall's April announcement
• programme update
• launch announcement
• Rheinmetall's October announcement
• human-machine-teaming announcement

Analyst verdict Pro