Inside Germany's Rheinmetall As Weapons Firm Prepares Expansion Into Ukraine

The is the production floor of Rheinmetall in Unterluess, northern Germany, as photographed on June 6.

A Rheinmetall technician works on artillery shells destined for Ukraine. 

Since April 2022, when Germany agreed to supply Ukraine with heavy weapons to fight the Russian invasion, Rheinmetall's production of tank shells has spiked from 60,000 to 240,000 per year. 

Tank turrets lined up outside the Rheinmetall facility. 

The German weapons company has added some 2,000 jobs since the Russian invasion, and been added to Frankfurt's blue-chip DAX stock index.

Technicians work on a 120mm cannon for Leopard battle tanks that will be delivered to Ukrainian forces. 

In May it was announced that Rheinmetall would link with Ukraine's state-run Ukroboronprom weapons company with a goal "to jointly produce selected Rheinmetall products in Ukraine."

A Leopard tank is tested after maintenance at the Rheinmetall facility in Unterluess. 

The announcement of a potential German weapons factory inside Ukraine drew a furious response from the Kremlin. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev vowed Russia would hit the planned facility with "fireworks by Kalibre [cruise missile] and other Russian pyrotechnic devices." 

 

Inside the turret of an armored fighting vehicle

Rheinmetall was instrumental in equipping the Nazi war machine that devastated much of Europe in World War II. 
 

A warehouse of spare tank parts

In some parts of the Rheinmetall plant, according to AFP, old armored vehicles with patches of rust are currently being dismantled and refurbished for deployment to the battlefield. 

Cabins of military trucks being produced in Unterluess



 

A Rheinmetall worker works on a heavy caliber shell. 

 

A newly made armor-piercing sabot round

The European Union has pledged 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) for supplying artillery for Ukraine, with the aim of getting 1 million artillery rounds to the country over the coming year.