Germany's largest defense supplier. €9.75B FY2024 revenue. Producer of Leopard 2 main armament + Puma IFV + Lynx + Boxer + KF51 Panther tank + 155mm artillery shells. Massively scaled artillery production post-Ukraine: 70K shells (2022) → 200K (2024) → 700K target (2027). Stock 5x'd 2022-2025.
Key Milestones
Founded as Rheinische Metallwaaren- und Maschinenfabrik in Düsseldorf by Heinrich Ehrhardt; secured Reichswehr contract for 75 million ammunition rounds; cornerstone of German artillery production
Acquires MAN Nutzfahrzeuge military vehicle business forming Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles JV (RMMV); flagship platform Boxer multirole armored vehicle (UK Aug 2022 £4.4B; Germany, Netherlands, Australia, Lithuania)
Lynx KF41 IFV unveiled at Eurosatory; selected for Hungary 2020 (€2B), Australia downselect 2022 (cancelled 2024); KF41 successor to Marder
Russia invades Ukraine; Rheinmetall stock 4x's over next 3 years on Zeitenwende €100B German rearmament + 155mm shell shortage themes — emerges as European defense darling
KF51 Panther main battle tank unveiled at Eurosatory; 130mm smoothbore Future Gun System, drone integration, modular protection — Leopard 2 successor positioning
Hungary contract for 218 Lynx KF41 IFVs worth €2B finalized; Zalaegerszeg plant assembly begins — first major Lynx production location outside Germany
Announces Lithuania ammunition plant joint venture for 155mm shells; €180M investment; Soviet-era infrastructure replacement; first NATO frontline state Rheinmetall facility
155mm shell production capacity hits 200K/yr (vs 70K in 2022); doubling again with Lower Saxony expansion; emerges as Europe's #1 ammunition producer
Inaugurates new ammunition plant in Unterlüß, Germany; Chancellor Scholz attends; capacity 200K shells/yr — Europe's largest 155mm production site
Italy joint venture with Leonardo formed for IFV/MBT (Lynx + Panther variants); €23B Italian Army modernization — Rheinmetall 50/Leonardo 50 split
FY2024 backlog reaches €52B record; F-35 fuselage center production for LMT global supply chain begins — Weeze Germany site
Australia cancels Land 400 Phase 3 IFV decision; KF41 Lynx loses to Hanwha Redback; revenue impact mitigated by Europe demand
155mm production target raised to 1.1M shells/yr by 2027; capacity beats Pentagon goal of 100K/month — Rheinmetall becomes single largest 155mm producer in Western world
Wins Bundeswehr digitalization Phase 2 award (~€10B); D-LBO architecture extends across NATO interoperable mobile networks
F-35 fuselage center hands over first complete fuselage to LMT; opens decade of recurring revenue; ~400 fuselages backlog through 2035