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US defence giant Lockheed Martin and Germany’s Rheinmetall have agreed to begin producing ATACMS short-range ballistic missiles in Germany, marking the first time the US-developed weapon system will be manufactured outside the United States.
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With a range of up to 300 kilometres, the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) has been widely used by Ukraine throughout the war.
The announcement comes as NATO leaders gather in Turkey for the alliance’s summit, where Europe’s military build-up is expected to take centre stage amid pressure from US President Donald Trump for allies to boost defence spending.
Under the memorandum of understanding, Rheinmetall would establish a European production hub for the guided missiles at its artillery plant in Unterlüß, northern Germany. Chief executive Armin Papperger said the facility would assemble ATACMS missiles for NATO allies and other partner countries.
“With our friends at Lockheed Martin, we are now establishing the industrial base in Germany for modern defence systems that are in high demand by Europe’s armed forces,” Papperger stated.
“We are grateful that Rheinmetall has been selected to establish and operate the world’s first and only production facility for ATACMS guided missiles outside the United States.”
The planned German line for ATACMS — a system that has become an important element of long-range Western support to Kyiv — signals a deeper shift towards localising key US weapons in Europe as demand for high-end munitions continues to surge.
The question now is whether Lockheed Martin and the US government would agree to establish a European production line for the company’s most sought-after product: anti-ballistic missile interceptors.
‘Europe urgently needs its own anti-ballistic systems and the missiles,’ Zelenskyy
The United States plans to establish a European maintenance hub for Lockheed Martin’s PAC-3 interceptor missiles, a senior Pentagon official told Reuters on Tuesday, adding that Washington is also open to eventually manufacturing the system outside the United States.
Speaking to reporters US Undersecretary of Defence Michael Duffey said Washington had not yet decided which European country would host the facility.
Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden are involved in the project alongside Lockheed Martin, which produces the PAC-3 missiles used in Patriot air defence batteries — a capability that remains in short supply.
Patriots have been widely relied upon by US allies, not least in the Gulf, as well as by Ukraine. But the US and Israel’s war on Iran has depleted almost a third of the global stockpile of Patriot interceptors. According to some estimates, Gulf states have collectively fired more than 1,100 of them in recent months.
According to Zelenskyy, Lockheed Martin produces roughly 600 interceptors a year, and up to 65 per month.
Ukrainian officials say Russia is producing around 120 ballistic missiles monthly, alongside other systems, and has increasingly tailored its strikes to exploit gaps in Ukraine’s air defence, recently launching around 30 ballistic missiles in a single night attack.
Ukraine’s air defences failed to intercept any of the 29 ballistic missiles launched by Russia in an overnight attack on 6 July that killed at least 26 people and injured dozens more in Kyiv and the surrounding region.
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