The plan would give the Bundeswehr thousands of new armoured vehicles in several configurations. It would also provide Rheinmetall and KNDS Deutschland, the equal owners of the Artec consortium, with production work extending well into the next decade.
Papperger outlined the prospective orders during Rheinmetall’s second-quarter 2026 earnings call. He said the €12.4 billion figure represented the company’s expected revenue from the initial vehicle contract.
“There is a fixed contract about the vehicles,” Papperger told analysts. “EUR 12.4 billion for vehicles.”
Because Rheinmetall and KNDS Deutschland each hold 50% of Artec, the full value of the initial vehicle package could approach €25 billion. Final negotiations between the consortium and the Bundeswehr were expected in the second week of September.
The contract still requires parliamentary approval. Papperger expected the Bundestag to consider the funding on 9 December, with signing possible five to 10 days later.
That timetable would put the award shortly before Rheinmetall closes its financial year. The company could then receive a 30% advance payment worth more than €3 billion in December or January, according to management.
Rheinmetall also expects a share of a separate support agreement. Papperger put the total service contract at about €4 billion, of which roughly €2 billion would accrue to Rheinmetall.
The support agreement could be concluded in January 2027. Together with the vehicle contract, it would bring Rheinmetall’s expected business from the initial package to about €14.4 billion to €14.5 billion.
Arminius could extend far beyond the first procurement phase. Artec has presented the Bundeswehr with two proposals for additional vehicle orders worth a combined €26 billion to Rheinmetall, based on Papperger’s description.
The first option would be worth another €14 billion and cover deliveries between 2030 and 2035. The second, valued at €12 billion, would provide further vehicles at a later stage.
“Option 1 is another EUR 14 billion contract,” Papperger said. He described the €12 billion proposal as an offer for additional vehicles.
If those amounts refer only to Rheinmetall’s 50% share, their total industrial value could reach about €28 billion and €24 billion respectively. Added to an initial package of approximately €25 billion, that would place the theoretical ceiling for Arminius near €77 billion.
That figure remains an upper-end scenario rather than a firm programme value. Papperger said the wider framework had not been fixed, and the options remain industry proposals to the Bundeswehr.
German media reports have indicated that the initial order could cover about 1,800 GTK Boxer vehicles. A first option could add 1,700 vehicles, followed by another 2,000 under the final phase.
If all three stages proceed, Germany could acquire as many as 5,500 new Boxers by around 2040. That would be in addition to 861 vehicles already ordered.
Papperger said Arminius would cover a wide range of Boxer variants. These include the Schakal infantry fighting vehicle and the RCH 155 self-propelled howitzer.
The programme could also include command vehicles, driver-training platforms and artillery reconnaissance vehicles. Armoured personnel carriers, medical evacuation vehicles, bridge systems and air-defence variants equipped with the Skyranger 30 turret are also under consideration.
Arminius would become one of the largest potential additions to Rheinmetall’s order book. The company reported a backlog of €80.4 billion at the end of the second quarter.
