Rheinmetall restores UK gun-barrel production, starting with artillery

German defence company Rheinmetall opened its Telford gun hall on 22 October, restoring large-calibre gun-barrel production to the UK. The first barrels are for artillery, while tank-barrel production remains a future capability.

For the preceding 20 years, Britain had relied on imports to equip its tanks with barrels.

Annual capacity and conditional expansion

The factory will make barrels and breeches—the parts that close the rear of a gun barrel. The Guardian reported the following annual production capacity.

Rheinmetall chief executive Armin Papperger said annual barrel capacity could theoretically reach 1,000 within four or five years, but only if orders came in.

Artillery first, tank barrels later

Initial production serves German-made howitzers—artillery guns mounted on vehicles and operated remotely—that use NATO-standard 155mm ammunition. The factory will also be able to make tank barrels for 120mm rounds in future.

Rheinmetall’s opening account identified the RCH 155 artillery system and future artillery platforms among the systems the factory would supply. Papperger told BBC Radio Shropshire that the company had many orders and needed more capacity, adding that it had only one similar production line in Germany.