The German defense company Rheinmetall has started construction of one of Europe's largest gunpowder factories in Bavaria.
The company noted that Rheinmetall continues to significantly expand its production capacity as part of the “Firepower“ project. “To this end, one of Europe's largest and most modern gunpowder factories is being built at Rheinmetall's historic plant in Aschau am Inn, where its subsidiary Nitrochemie is located. Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder, Parliamentary State Secretary in the German Ministry of Defense Nils Schmidt and Bavarian Minister for Economics, Regional Development and Energy Hubert Eivanger participated in the groundbreaking ceremony“, the company emphasized. Rheinmetall explained that by expanding the plant from its current 90 hectares to 110 hectares, it plans to significantly increase the production of powder charge components for barrel artillery and other large-caliber systems. “The workforce in Aschau continues to grow: since 2022 it has increased by approximately 80% to more than 800 people. Several hundred more jobs are now planned, bringing the company's future workforce to 1,400 people,“ Rheinmetall noted.
The phased start of production at the new facilities is planned to begin in 2027. The company currently specifies that the Aschau site operates around the clock, producing approximately 1,700 tons of powder charge and approximately 300,000 powder charge modules per year. The production volume of powder charge and powder charge modules is planned to more than double in the next 24 months. As a result, Aschau will produce up to 2,500 tons of additional gunpowder, over 5 million combustion-molded parts and over 1 million gunpowder modules. Maximum production capacity will be reached in 2028.
“Rheinmetall is investing EUR 500 million in the largest and most modern gunpowder factory in Europe. This is making a decisive contribution to the sustainability and autonomy of the defense sector and creating 500 new permanent jobs in the region“, Söder said.
Bloomberg previously reported that, against the backdrop of the conflict in Ukraine in recent years, gunpowder stocks in Germany and its NATO and EU allies have been significantly depleted. Rheinmetall, which, along with France's Eurenco and Norway's and Sweden's Nammo, is one of several companies producing gunpowder in Europe, expects to increase production to 20,000 tons by 2030 to supply the armed forces of Germany, NATO countries and the EU.