Battles & Wars › Modern conflicts › Russia–Ukraine war
Rheinmetall and Europe's rearmament
founded 1889; Unterlüß shell plant opened August 27, 2025· Arms maker, factory or program· Arms makers & war industry
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
German arms maker founded in 1889 that has become Europe's biggest producer of artillery shells since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
Heinrich Ehrhardt founded it in Düsseldorf in 1889 to make ammunition parts; it soon built recoil-absorbing field guns. It armed Germany in both world wars, and under the Nazis used forced laborers. After 1945 it rebuilt, later making the Leopard 2 tank's gun. Before 2022 it made about 70,000 large shells a year; it plans over 1 million by 2027. Its Unterlüß plant, opened August 27, 2025, is designed for up to 350,000 a year. Sales reached about €9.9 billion in 2025.
Why it matters
It is a main test of whether Europe can rearm quickly on its own after decades of shrinking defense industries, and a big winner of rising budgets.
How we know
Company annual reports, German and EU government contracts, statements by CEO Armin Papperger, and historians' studies of the firm's world-war production and forced labor.
Still debated
Whether demand lasts if the Ukraine war ends, whether output targets are met on time, and how long European governments will keep paying are debated.
Connections (3)
▸Rheinmetall and Europe's rearmament made guns and shells for Germany in World War IWell documented
The connection
Rheinmetall was one of Germany's main gun and shell makers, second to Krupp. Its recoil-absorbing guns, shells, fuzes and casings armed the German army through four years of artillery war. Defeat brought the Versailles Treaty's limits on German arms, and the firm turned largely to civilian products.
When and how
Düsseldorf and other German plants, 1914–18; founder Heinrich Ehrhardt still led the company.
How we know
Company records and German war-production histories document its output; postwar Allied commissions supervised its restrictions.
Debates and open questions
Exact wartime output and profits are hard to separate from those of other German firms in surviving records.
▸Rheinmetall and Europe's rearmament faces a modern version of the Shell Crisis and Britain's Ministry of MunitionsMostly agreed
The connection
In 1915 Britain found it could not make enough shells for a long war and built state factories in a rush. In 2023–24 Europe hit the same wall: the EU promised Ukraine 1 million shells within a year and delivered about half on time. Rheinmetall's new plants are a main part of Europe's response.
When and how
Europe from 2023: the EU's March 2023 pledge, then German framework orders backing Rheinmetall's Unterlüß plant, opened August 2025.
How sure are we?
EU statements on deliveries, and comparisons drawn by officials and historians; the parallel is analysis, not a direct causal link.
Debates and open questions
Whether Europe will keep spending once the war ends, or let capacity wither again as Britain did after 1918, is uncertain.
▸Rheinmetall and Europe's rearmament multiplied its shell output in response to the Russia–Ukraine warWell documented
The connection
Before 2022 Rheinmetall made about 70,000 large-caliber shells a year. The invasion, and Ukraine's huge appetite for 155 mm rounds, changed that: it expanded plants in Germany and Spain, opened Unterlüß, and plans over 1 million shells a year by 2027, plus plants in Lithuania and inside Ukraine.
When and how
Germany, Spain, Lithuania and Ukraine from 2022; CEO Armin Papperger led the expansion.
How we know
Company reports, government contracts including Germany's €8.5 billion shell framework of 2024, and deliveries confirmed by Ukrainian officials.
Debates and open questions
Whether targets will be met on time, and when the delayed plant in Ukraine will open, are uncertain; Ukraine's needs still exceed Europe's output.