Rheinmetall has just won two new contracts in the indirect fire ammunition domain. An international customer has ordered propellant charges worth around €40 million from Rheinmetall Denel Munition, the Group’s South African subsidiary. Another customer, a NATO state, has placed an order with Rheinmetall Denel Munition for its tried-and-tested Assegai 155mm ammunition. This order is worth around €17 million. The Assegai family of artillery ammunition can be fired from any NATO STANAG-compatible artillery system, including the PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzer.

“We’re very pleased that two customers – including a NATO member state and a non-NATO country – have again placed their trust in our globally proven Assegai indirect fire technology”, says Jan-Patrick Helmsen, managing director of Rheinmetall Denel Munition. “As a systems maker, we work constantly to improve our cutting-edge technologies so that we can provide our customers’ soldiers with the very best, most reliable solutions possible.”

Back in 2019, Rheinmetall succeeded in setting a new maximum range record in South Africa with the Assegai family and other Group products like the new Extended Range Charge from Rheinmetall’s subsidiary Nitrochemie AG. Thanks to the Assegai system approach – from fuse to projectile to propelling charges – long ranges were attained with various artillery systems. A non-NATO 155mm artillery gun with 52 calibre lengths and a 25-litre propelling charge chamber achieved a record range of 76 kilometres.

Rheinmetall Denel Munition is already working on other future artillery technologies. For example, the rocket motor in conventional 155mm Assegai projectiles is being improved. In addition to this, a new development is on the way that will boost the maximum range to over 155 kilometres.