Rheinmetall: Inside Europe’s Land-Warfare Giant With a €55B Order Book

In the decade before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Rheinmetall was a respectable but slow-growing defence supplier. Two years later it is a different company — €9.75 billion in 2024 revenue, a backlog worth more than five times annual sales, and a joint-venture ammunition factory being built inside a warzone. How Düsseldorf’s 135-year-old armaments maker became the defining story of Europe’s rearmament.

Company Overview

Founded on 13 April 1889 as Rheinische Metallwaaren- und Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft, Rheinmetall has operated through two world wars, Cold War drawdowns, and post-1989 consolidation. Today it is Europe’s largest producer of land-combat systems and ammunition, listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the ticker RHM.

The numbers are almost surreal by the standards of Western defence primes. A €55 billion backlog — nearly six times 2024 sales — provides revenue visibility through the end of the decade. The Weapon and Ammunition segment posted a 28.4 percent operating margin, its best ever, on new orders of €12.3 billion. Vehicle Systems grew 45 percent to €3.79 billion. Rheinmetall’s 2030 target, once considered ambitious, now looks conservative: €20 billion in revenue.

Business Segments

Rheinmetall operates across five segments. Weapon and Ammunition — its historical core — manufactures 120mm tank gun rounds, 155mm artillery shells, and 20-to-35mm autocannon cartridges for NATO and partner markets. Vehicle Systems designs and builds the Lynx IFV, Boxer MRAV, and Panther KF51 MBT. Electronic Solutions, Sensors & Actuators, and Power Systems round out the portfolio, covering radars, electro-optics, and military truck drives.

Product and Programme Portfolio

Lynx KF41 — The Export IFV Reshaping the Market

The Lynx KF41 is the most consequential platform in Rheinmetall’s modern history. A clean-sheet infantry fighting vehicle in the 44-tonne class, it competes against — and in most head-to-head evaluations has beaten — the U.S. Bradley and Sweden’s CV90. Its architecture scales from 9 to 44 tonnes, enabling a single hull to serve as troop carrier, reconnaissance vehicle, or fire-support platform.

Hungary was the anchor customer: an August 2020 framework agreement translated into a September 2020 formal order for 218 Lynx KF41s, worth approximately €2 billion, with domestic industrial participation through a joint venture. In Italy, the 1,050-vehicle AICS/A2CS programme — running to 2040 — is being delivered through Leonardo Rheinmetall Military Vehicles (LRMV), a 50-50 joint venture established in October 2024. First deliveries came in January 2026. In the United States, “Team Lynx” — a Rheinmetall and Textron Systems partnership — is competing for the U.S. Army’s Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) contract, one of the largest ground-vehicle procurements in American history.

Boxer MRAV — Modular Mission Platform

The Boxer Multi-Role Armoured Vehicle separates its drive module from swappable mission modules — personnel carrier, command post, ambulance, logistics, or weapon station — on the same wheeled hull. Developed jointly with KMW (now part of KNDS), it is operated by Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Lithuania, and others. A 2024 contract for heavy weapon carrier Boxers was worth €1.67 billion; a separate transport-vehicle framework reached €2.94 billion.

Panther KF51 — Next-Generation Main Battle Tank

Unveiled at Eurosatory 2022, the Panther KF51 is Rheinmetall’s answer to the question of what comes after the Leopard 2. Armed with a 130mm smoothbore gun — capable of defeating any known MBT armour — it integrates an active protection system, drone launcher, and high-automation crew station. Hungary is its primary prospective customer. Germany’s trajectory depends on the Franco-German MGCS programme, which remains politically complex.

Ammunition — The Margin Engine

Rheinmetall’s ammunition business has become the company’s highest-margin engine precisely because no modern Western army can fight without it. The Weapon and Ammunition segment recorded a 28.4 percent operating margin in 2024 — nearly double what most aerospace primes earn system-wide. New orders of €12.3 billion reflected demand from NATO members restocking depleted reserves and direct procurement for Ukraine. A December 2023 contract worth approximately €142 million covered 155mm rounds for an unnamed NATO partner to supply Ukraine; a German government order placed in October 2023 covered over 100,000 rounds of 155mm and DM11 shells.

PzH 2000 and Air-Defence Systems

The PzH 2000 155mm/52-cal self-propelled howitzer, used by Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and others, has seen extensive combat service in Ukraine — the most direct live-fire test of any Rheinmetall system in the post-Cold War era. MANTIS (Modular, Automatic and Network-capable Targeting and Interception System), its 35mm short-range air-defence system, protects against missiles, rockets, and UAVs. Skyranger HX — a Boxer-based SHORAD system with a 30mm Oerlikon cannon — is Rheinmetall’s entry into the rapidly expanding counter-drone market.

Major Contracts

Export Customers

Ukraine: Frontline Engagement at Scale

No major defence prime is as directly engaged in the Ukraine war as Rheinmetall. In October 2023 it established Rheinmetall Ukrainian Defense Industry LLC — a 51/49 joint venture with Ukrainian state arms company Ukroboronprom — to conduct service, assembly, and ultimately production of military vehicles inside Ukraine. In February 2024 it announced a contract to equip a wholly new ammunition factory in-country, worth hundreds of millions of euros in equipment supply. The strategic logic is sound: a factory inside Ukraine faces legal and insurance hurdles but signals a long-term commitment that European governments wanted to see. The risk, equally obvious, is that the plant exists in an active warzone.

Turkey Relationship

Turkey is both a potential customer and a competitive concern for Rheinmetall. The Turkish Armed Forces operate Leopard 2A4 and 2A7 tanks — platforms whose 120mm guns are Rheinmetall products. For Turkey’s ALTAY main battle tank, Rheinmetall’s 130mm gun system is among the technology options under consideration for future variants. On the industrial side, Rheinmetall has held discussions with Roketsan on ammunition co-operation, though no formal joint venture has been announced. The more immediate dynamic is competitive: FNSS, the Turkish land-systems maker, is a direct rival to Lynx and Boxer in export markets where Turkey is seeking to expand its defence-industry footprint.

Competitors

In the land systems arena, Rheinmetall faces General Dynamics Land Systems (Abrams, Bradley successor), BAE Systems (CV90, AMPV, AS-21 Redback), and Hanwha Aerospace (AS-21 Redback, K21) in IFV competitions. KNDS — formed from KMW and Nexter — is simultaneously a legacy partner (Boxer, MGCS) and a competitor for European armoured vehicle programmes. In ammunition, General Dynamics Ordnance, BAE Systems Ammunition Division, and Norway’s Nammo are peers.

Future Programmes

Rheinmetall’s stated 2030 ambition is €20 billion in sales — roughly doubling from 2024. The path runs through OMFV (potentially the largest single contract available), Germany’s own Lynx and Boxer procurement, the Panther KF51’s entry into service, and Skyranger’s expansion into the counter-drone market. The company is also developing software-defined vehicle architecture (NGVA) to progressively automate the Lynx family. Its biggest structural uncertainty: whether the post-war Ukrainian reconstruction will amplify or reduce the demand that drove its recent transformation.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths: 135-year land-defence specialisation; full vertical integration from ammunition to platform to electronics; Lynx’s growing multi-national sales track record; first-mover position in Ukraine industrial engagement; €55 billion backlog providing rare long-range revenue visibility.

Weaknesses: Zero presence in air or naval systems — pure land play in a market where multi-domain vendors have lobbying advantages; the Franco-German MGCS deadlock clouds Panther’s future in Germany; scaling production capacity demands heavy capital expenditure before orders convert to cash; Ukraine JV carries obvious geopolitical and operational risk.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Rheinmetall make?

Rheinmetall’s core products are land-combat platforms (Lynx KF41 IFV, Boxer MRAV, Panther KF51 MBT) and ammunition (120mm tank rounds, 155mm artillery shells, 20-to-35mm autocannon cartridges), alongside radar and electro-optic systems.

How big is Rheinmetall?

In 2024 Rheinmetall reported €9.75 billion in revenue and a €54.97 billion order backlog — roughly five and a half times annual sales — with over 35,000 employees globally.

Does Rheinmetall have operations in Ukraine?

Yes. Rheinmetall established a 51/49 joint venture with Ukroboronprom in October 2023 for vehicle maintenance, assembly, and production inside Ukraine. A separate contract announced in February 2024 covers the full technical equipment of a new ammunition factory to be built in the country.

Sources

Rheinmetall AG Annual Report 2024; Rheinmetall AG press releases (2023–2024); Janes Defence Weekly; Defense News; Breaking Defense; NATO defence expenditure data.