Rheinmetall receives major order for Assegai 155 mm artillery shells

RDM's Assegai family of 155 mm shells includes the V-LAP version. (RDM)

Rheinmetall announced in a press release on 3 July that a European NATO country had signed a multi-year contract with its subsidiary Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) for Assegai 155 mm artillery shells, with deliveries planned for 2025–27. The order booked in the second quarter of 2025 for Assegai family shells and bimodular propellant charges is valued at several hundred million euros and is the largest RDM has ever received.

A Rheinmetall spokesperson declined to name the customer on 7 July. He told Janes that the South African government in principle supports Assegai exports to NATO countries but decides which ones on a case-by-case basis. He said there are no more limitations on delivering Assegai to Poland but that South African export regulations do not allow it to be supplied to Ukraine.

The Assegai 155 mm shells and bimodular propellant charges will be integrated into the customer's artillery systems, giving them a range of more than 40 km. The shells and charges are qualified for the armies of multiple user nations, providing interoperability and quick integration into service, according to Rheinmetall.

The Assegai family consists of high-explosive, illumination, infrared illumination, smoke, pre-formed fragmentation (PFF), and rocket-assisted Velocity-enhanced Long-range Artillery Projectile (V-LAP) shells. On 6 November 2019, a Panzerhaubitze (PzH) 2000 52-calibre self-propelled howitzer (SPH) fired an Assegai M2005-V-LAP shell with a new charge that gave it a range of nearly 67 km.

Rheinmetall said it continues to invest heavily on increasing the capacity of existing facilities and establishing new manufacturing facilities to meet growing demand for 155 mm shells and charges, a process that began in 2022. The Rheinmetall spokesperson told Janes