Neumann said the scope of the main order had changed little in recent months. Earlier comments by Chief Executive Armin Papperger about changes to the deal referred mainly to how options and additional packages would be structured, he said.
Asked about reports that put the contract’s initial value at €20 billion, Neumann said Rheinmetall would receive a larger share than KNDS. He gave no figure for Rheinmetall’s share and said any changes to the price would become clear once negotiations concluded.
Rheinmetall had expected to book revenue in the low hundreds of millions of euros this year from work on Arminius if the deal was signed several weeks before year-end. Neumann said deliveries at scale would begin in 2028 and cautioned that there was a limit to how much preparatory work Rheinmetall would do before signing.
The likely delay, together with slower acceptance testing for 155 mm artillery ammunition, prompted Rheinmetall to cut its 2026 sales forecast to around €13.2 billion from €13.7 billion to €14.2 billion. Neumann said the group would also miss its €100 billion year-end backlog target unless the Boxer contract was signed this year.
