Arming the World
How a global defence giant secretly exports ammunition factories to countries far beyond its Nato clientele. Investigate Europe went on the trail of Rheinmetall's secretive ammunition factory program.
December 2024
In early December, the new head of Nato delivered a stark warning. Speaking in Brussels, Mark Rutte urged members of the military alliance to “shift to a wartime mindset” and “turbocharge” their defence spending amid fears of future conflict with Russia.
Rutte’s assessment will have likely been met with nodding approval by the world’s weapons manufacturers. Central among these is Rheinmetall, a German firm whose bottom line has bulged in recent years as it signed contracts with Nato nations and became a major supplier of munitions to Ukraine.
Rheinmetall frequently publicises its deals with western forces. In May, an unnamed Nato customer ordered tens of thousands of artillery shells, an agreement which took company orders in the second quarter of 2024 to almost €300 million. It has since unveiled plans for an ammunition factory in Lithuania and struck deals with the Czech Republic, Spain and Denmark, among other states. The Rheinmetall motto is present at the end of each announcement: ‘Taking responsibility in a changing world’.
But the curated pages of its corporate communications don’t tell the whole story.
Over the past decade Rheinmetall has quietly built a parallel business, one where its clients rarely feature in the press releases crafted from its Düsseldorf headquarters. The nerve centre of this business is South Africa.
Through Rheinmetall Denel Munition, a company it has controlled since 2008, Rheinmetall supplies ammunition factories and machinery to customers far beyond the confines of Nato. Significantly, the deals are free from German export regulations.
A group of Investigate Europe reporters has spent the past year investigating this secretive business, speaking with industry insiders and former employees, analysing confidential documents and interrogating customs records.
You can read the investigation below and with our media partners internationally.
Rutte’s assessment will have likely been met with nodding approval by the world’s weapons manufacturers. Central among these is Rheinmetall, a German firm whose bottom line has bulged in recent years as it signed contracts with Nato nations and became a major supplier of munitions to Ukraine.
Rheinmetall frequently publicises its deals with western forces. In May, an unnamed Nato customer ordered tens of thousands of artillery shells, an agreement which took company orders in the second quarter of 2024 to almost €300 million. It has since unveiled plans for an ammunition factory in Lithuania and struck deals with the Czech Republic, Spain and Denmark, among other states. The Rheinmetall motto is present at the end of each announcement: ‘Taking responsibility in a changing world’.
But the curated pages of its corporate communications don’t tell the whole story.
Over the past decade Rheinmetall has quietly built a parallel business, one where its clients rarely feature in the press releases crafted from its Düsseldorf headquarters. The nerve centre of this business is South Africa.
Through Rheinmetall Denel Munition, a company it has controlled since 2008, Rheinmetall supplies ammunition factories and machinery to customers far beyond the confines of Nato. Significantly, the deals are free from German export regulations.
A group of Investigate Europe reporters has spent the past year investigating this secretive business, speaking with industry insiders and former employees, analysing confidential documents and interrogating customs records.
You can read the investigation below and with our media partners internationally.
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Publications
Die diskreten Geschäfte von Rheinmetall
Zeit Online, Germany
4 March 2025
El programa secreto de la multinacional Rheinmetall para armar el mundo desde Sudáfrica
infoLibre, Spain
21 December 2024
Inchiesta – Così il gigante europeo Rheinmetall vende macchine per produrre munizioni a Paesi che armano la Russia
The Post Internazionale, Italy
20 December 2024
Felfegyverezni a világot: A Rheinmetall titokzatos lőszergyár-programja
Partizán, Hungary
19 December 2024