German defence giant Rheinmetall expands into cruise missiles

German arms giant Rheinmetall said Monday that it would start making cruise missiles for the first time as it announced a partnership with Dutch defence firm Destinus.

Subeject to regulatory approvals, Rheinmetall and Destinus will form a joint venture this year for the production of the missiles, the Duesseldorf-based firm said.

“We are combining Rheinmetall’s production capacities and experience in managing large-scale programs with Destinus’s specific technology and system design,” Rheinmetall’s chief executive Armin Papperger said.

“We must expand the industrial base for modern defence systems in Europe,” he added.

Cruise missiles and systems to intercept them have proven increasingly important in modern warfare, and have been used extensively in the Ukraine conflict and the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Rheinmetall’s experience in high-volume production means it can help boost European stocks of the weapons, Destinus co-founder and CEO Mikhail Kokorich said.

“Europe is entering a new phase of scaling missile production,” he said. “Missile systems are evolving from limited-production assets into industrial products.”

The joint venture would produce strike and interception systems including cruise missiles and rocket artillery, Rheinmetall said in a statement, adding that production would include systems already used on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Rheinmetall has been a major beneficiary of Germany’s rearmament drive, launched following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

But some have warned that too much defence spending is going toward traditional manufacturers like Rheinmetall, whose products range from ammunition to military vehicles, rather than to smaller firms specialised in more high-tech, modern weaponry.