Its subsidiary Rheinmetall Expal Munitions will commission the new medium-calibre facility in October 2026. The investment is part of the group’s ‘Firepower’ programme to increase ammunition manufacturing capacity across its production network.
The Albacete line will produce around 1.2 million projectiles and 1.8 million cartridge cases annually in calibres from 20 mm to 35 mm. These will be processed into finished ammunition at other Rheinmetall sites, including Burgos in Spain.
The output will support ammunition production for infantry fighting vehicles and anti-aircraft gun systems. Types include armour-piercing projectiles, kinetic energy time fuze ammunition and AHEAD ammunition for air defence and counter-drone use.
Rheinmetall has modernised and extended an existing building to accommodate the new line. The approximately 5,700-square-metre facility includes new machinery and automation designed to increase manufacturing speed and volume.
“Albacete is one of our key centres of expertise in the field of ammunition components and weapon systems manufacturing,” said Rheinmetall chief executive Armin Papperger. “It makes perfect sense to draw on this expertise of our colleagues for our ‘Firepower’ project.”
“We are introducing a new capability to this site in order to significantly increase medium-calibre production,” Papperger said. “At the same time, we are strengthening the plant’s existing core competence, namely the manufacture of mortar systems.”
A separate 5,200-square-metre building was constructed in less than a year for mortar systems production. The hall will also be able to accommodate aircraft maintenance.
Annual capacity is set to reach 40 Dual-Eimos 81 mm mortar systems. The plant will also be capable of manufacturing more than 650 mortars a year in 60 mm, 81 mm and 120 mm calibres.
Spanish Secretary of State for Defence Amparo Valcarce attended the expansion ceremony alongside Papperger, German Ambassador Heiko Thoms and Albacete Mayor Manuel Serrano López.
She linked the investment to the industrial capacity needed to sustain military operations.
“A credible deterrent requires armed forces that are well prepared, properly equipped and capable of sustaining their operations over time,” Valcarce said. “This makes a strong defence industry essential, because the best way to preserve peace is to be prepared to defend it.”
Rheinmetall aims to reach annual production capacity of four million medium-calibre rounds by 2030 at the latest. Its other targets are 1.5 million rounds of 155 mm artillery ammunition and 240,000 rounds of 120 mm anti-tank ammunition annually.
The programme combines new plants in Unterlüß, Germany, and Baisogala, Lithuania, with investment in existing facilities. Albacete and Aschau am Inn in Germany are among the sites being expanded.
The Spanish plant will work with Rheinmetall facilities in Spain, Germany and Switzerland to supply NATO partners and other allies. The company said its local supplier network would also create opportunities for businesses in the region.
