Rheinmetall said on Friday it would take time to ramp up planned ATACMS missile production with Lockheed Martin, underscoring the challenge the United States faces to replenish weapons stockpiles depleted by the war with Iran.
Reuters reported this week that the U.S. Army had used up much of its global stockpile of long-range precision missiles during the five-month conflict with Iran, raising concerns about military readiness for future crises.
President Donald Trump on Thursday played down concerns over weapons shortages, saying the U.S. had an almost unlimited supply of some munitions while acknowledging stocks of others were tighter. He added that U.S. defense companies were expanding production capacity.
Rheinmetall signed a memorandum of understanding with Lockheed last month to jointly produce Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, at Rheinmetall’s Unterluess plant in northern Germany. Production facilities are due to be set up next year.
“Naturally, there will also be sufficient capacity to replenish the U.S. military arsenals depleted by the conflict involving Iran,” CEO Armin Papperger told Reuters in an interview conducted on Thursday but published on Friday.
“That won’t happen in two years. It will take much longer.”
Defense companies across the world are racing to meet a surge in demand as governments step up military spending amid conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and U.S. pressure for Europe to take more responsibility for its own security.
Rheinmetall says ramping up ATACMS output will take time as US rebuilds stocks
(Matthias Inverardi, Reuters)
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