Germany's largest armaments group Rheinmetall is making progress with plans to expand its ammunition production with a new plant in Hungary. The foundation stone had been laid on the site in Várpalota, the company announced on Tuesday in Düsseldorf.

200 jobs are to be created in the plant, and from 2024 ammunition in 30 millimeter caliber is to be manufactured there for the Rheinmetall Lynx infantry fighting vehicle. For this newly developed tank, the Düsseldorf-based armory received an order worth two billion euros from Hungary in 2020, and pre-series production recently began.

The ammunition plant is operated by a joint venture in which Rheinmetall and the Hungarian state have shares. An investment sum was not mentioned in the company announcement.

There are also plans to manufacture 120mm shells for the Leopard 2 main battle tank and 155mm caliber shells for the 2000 self-propelled howitzer. Part of the production is to be sold to the Hungarian army and another part to go abroad. The company aims to reach full production capacity at the new facility in 2025. In addition, development activities are also planned there, according to the company announcement.

Hungary is becoming increasingly important for Rheinmetall. In addition to manufacturing the Lynx in the NATO and EU state and the new ammunition factory, Rheinmetall is busy promoting the digitization of the Hungarian armed forces.