German defense industry giant Rheinmetall officially announced an agreement with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for the supply of propelling charges for 155-mm artillery ammunition.
The contract value is around EUR 9 million, the company will transfer tens of thousands powder sacks that are necessary to fire an artillery shell. The declared date of delivery is January 2025 implying an extraordinary short term of execution: within 1.5 months.
Read more: Ukraine Receives 20 More Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicles from Rheinmetall
On a note from Defense Express, propelling charges are currently in a deficit globally. That is, for example, why Ukraine sought to buy them even from South Korea but was refused.
The time limit and volume of the contract with Rheinmetall suggest that this is so far the first such agreement with many more potentially yet to come, at a larger scale. Also, a reminder, the German defense giant is building a dedicated turnkey ammunition plant in Ukraine, just one of four Rheinmetall plants to be set up in Ukraine.
One of them, specialized in producing armored vehicles, should make its first Lynx IFV by the end of 2024. At least, these are the plans announced in August. This opens a prospect of local manufacturing of combat armor for the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the war front right in Ukraine.
Besides, on December 17th, the company announced receipt of an additional order from the German government for the supply of 20 additional Marder 1A3 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine. The cost of the order commissioned to the main branch in Germany was "in the mid double-digit million euro range," and the delivery date is in the first half of 2025.
Read more: OSINTer Counted Hundreds of Mothballed AFVs, Artillery Systems Europe Could Give Ukraine But There's an Issue
