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The prime contractor has been selected to provide a NATO customer with 155mm artillery ammunition.
Rheinmetall’s South African subsidiary, Rheinmetall Denel Munition, has secured a multi-million-dollar contract from an undisclosed NATO country for the supply of 155mm ammunition from its Assegai product line.
The contract, valued in the “upper-two-digit, million-euro range”, involves delivery over the next two years.
Deliverables include fuses, different projectile types such as high-explosive service rounds, and Assegai artillery propelling charges.
According to Rheinmetall, Assegai artillery ammunition can be fired from any NATO STANAG-compatible artillery system, including the PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzer.
“We’re known worldwide for our long-range Assegai indirect fire technology and are pleased to be able to welcome a new partner nation to the Assegai family”, Jan-Patrick Helmsen, managing director of Rheinmetall Denel Munition, said.
“As a systems maker, we work constantly to improve our cutting-edge technologies so that we can provide our customers’ soldiers with the best-possible, most reliable solution.”
The contract follows demonstrations of the Assegai artillery’s capability.
In 2019, Rheinmetall set a new maximum range record in South Africa with the Assegai family and other group products like the new Topcharge.
A non-NATO 155mm artillery gun with 52 calibre lengths and a 25-litre propelling charge chamber reportedly achieved a range of 76 kilometres.
Rheinmetall Denel Munition is currently exploring future technologies, including modifications to the rocket motor in conventional 155mm Assegai projectiles.
The company is also exploring technologies to bolster the maximum range of the weapon to over 155 kilometres.
This latest NATO contract comes just weeks after Rheinmetall Denel Munition secured separate deals from two Asian customers for the delivery of 400,000 40mm low-velocity grenades and 100,000 40mm medium velocity grenades.
The former is scheduled to be delivered by December 2022, with the latter to be delivered between December 2022 and February 2023.
The total value of both orders was €25 million (AU$36.5 million).
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