Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) is a part of a massive ammunition framework agreement between Rheinmetall and the Dutch armed forces, which could be worth up to €500 million.
Germany’s Rheinmetall in late September announced that it had renewed and expanded the longstanding framework agreement with the Dutch procurement agency Defence Materiel Organization (DMO) for the supply of various types of ammunition for a period of at least ten years.
The framework agreement envisages annual call-offs of around €50 million, meaning that total volume could come to €500 million. The customer is already preparing for the first call-offs, Rheinmetall said.
The framework agreement encompasses the supply of 35 mm medium-calibre ammunition for infantry fighting vehicles, 40 mm ROSY smoke/obscurant cartridges, and a family of state-of-the-art 155 mm artillery ammunition.
Rheinmetall Denel Munition has already assumed full responsibility for the 155 mm portfolio. Rheinmetall Denel Munition will supply M1711 and M1712 insensitive high explosive (IHE) 155 mm Assegai projectiles as well as Illuminating and Infra-Red Illuminating projectiles, and M2000 Practice projectiles.
The 155 mm M1711 is a base bleed variant of the M0121A2 Assegai projectile while the M1712 is the boat tail assembly version. Maximum range is between 24.7 and 40 km depending on barrel length and type of projectile.
The Assegai range comprises insensitive ammunition and conventional high explosive projectiles as well as screening smoke, illumination, infrared/illumination and other projectiles. In ballistic terms, all members of the Assegai family are identical.
This ballistic similitude between Assegai projectile types assures equality in range tables
and maximum range between projectile types. Assegai projectiles can be be supplied with a
standard boat tail or optional base bleed assembly to boost the range.
With a barrel length of 39 calibres, an Assegai base bleed projectile attains a range of over 30 kilometres. Fired from a 52-calibre barrel, the range can exceed 40 kilometres. The Assegai ammunition family complies fully with the NATO Joint Ballistics Memorandum of Understanding (JBMOU) and is qualified in accordance with STANAG norms.
RDM confirmed that the its 155 mm Assegai projectile suite is fully NATO qualified for the 52 calibre Pzh2000 self-propelled howitzer.
Major General Ivo de Jong, Deputy Director of the DMO, and Roman Köhne, Managing Director of Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH, signed the contract on 30 July 2020.
“This is another good example of the fruitful, longstanding cooperation between the DMO and the Düsseldorf-based weapon and ammunition specialist. The framework agreement follows a partnership agreement signed by the two parties just over a year ago and further underscores the customer’s strong confidence in Rheinmetall’s ammunition expertise,” Rheinmetall said.
