# Rheinmetall Accelerates in Spain and Ukraine, the Shell the Front Is Missing

> Since the start of the Russian invasion, one number keeps coming up in discussions between Western allies and Ukrainian military officials: the

- Author: Maxime Marquette
- Publisher: MadMax (https://mad-max.co)
- Section: Profile
- Published: 2026-07-07
- Canonical URL: https://mad-max.co/en/article/rheinmetall-accelere-en-espagne-et-en-ukraine-l-obus-qui-manque-au-front

## Introduction: the shell, the silent weapon that decides everything

### A number that never makes headlines, but decides everything

Since the start of the **Russian invasion**, one number keeps coming up in discussions between Western allies and Ukrainian **military officials**: the number of **155mm shells** available each month at the **front**. It is this quiet figure, far from the spectacular headlines, that concretely determines Ukraine's ability to hold its positions against **Russian artillery**.

German arms giant **Rheinmetall** announced in early **July 2026** an acceleration of its **155mm munitions** **production** in Europe, with an active **production** site in **Spain** and an ongoing project to build a factory directly on Ukrainian soil, a decision that could change the logistics equation at the **front** in the months ahead.

### What this testimony will document

This piece **traces** **Rheinmetall's** announcements regarding its Spanish **production** and its Ukrainian factory project, what this concretely means for the **supply** of Ukrainian forces, and the limits of what can be said about the actual **timelines** for bringing these new **industrial capacities** online.

I do **not** have independently verified exact production figures for each site, and I flag that explicitly: this text relies on the company's **official announcements** and **specialized defense press** coverage.

*We often talk about tanks and fighter jets. We rarely talk about the 155mm shell, yet it is the most decisive weapon of this artillery war. Rheinmetall just reminded us that the real battle is also fought in factories.*

## Spain, a new link in European production

### Ramping up on Spanish soil

**Rheinmetall's** production site in **Spain** is one link in the European strategy to expand **155mm munitions** production capacity, an industrial effort tied to the European Union's broader goal of reducing its dependence on existing stockpiles and durably increasing its annual production capacity.

This **Spanish expansion** adds to the capacity **Rheinmetall** has already developed in **Germany** and other European countries, illustrating a strategy of **geographic diversification** of **production sites**, an approach that also reduces the logistical risk tied to concentrating production at a limited number of sites.

### Why this geographic diversification matters

Spreading production of critical **munitions** across several European countries reduces the vulnerability of the **supply** chain to potential disruptions, whether logistical, industrial, or, in a more serious scenario, linked to hostile actions directly targeting Western defense production infrastructure.

This logic of industrial resilience has become a priority for European military staffs for several years now, particularly after several incidents attributed to hostile activity targeted defense-related industrial sites in various **NATO** member countries.

*Watching Rheinmetall diversify production between Germany and Spain is not an administrative detail. It is a lesson in strategic caution that Europe took four years of war to genuinely absorb.*

## The factory project directly on Ukrainian soil

### Producing closer to the front, a bold decision

Beyond its expansion in **Spain**, **Rheinmetall** is continuing construction of a munitions factory directly on Ukrainian territory, a project that would bring production considerably closer to the front's immediate needs, reducing the **timelines** and logistics costs tied to transporting munitions from Western Europe.

This decision carries **obvious risks** in the middle of an active war, a munitions factory on Ukrainian soil being a potential target for Russian strikes, a risk factor that **Rheinmetall** and the **Ukrainian government** must necessarily factor into their plans to secure the site.

### A symbol as much as an industrial necessity

Beyond its concrete industrial value, this factory project in **Ukraine** carries strong symbolic weight: it signals the long-term commitment of one of Europe's largest defense manufacturers to the survival and modernization of Ukraine's military apparatus, well beyond simple one-off deliveries of equipment.

This kind of direct industrial investment on Ukrainian soil could also encourage other major Western defense groups to consider similar projects, gradually reinforcing **Ukraine's** military **industrial autonomy** in a war that appears set to last.

*Building a munitions factory in the middle of a war, under the constant threat of Russian strikes, borders on a gamble. But it is exactly the kind of gamble Ukraine and its allies must take to endure over time.*

## What this means for the Ukrainian front

### Supply still insufficient according to frontline units

Despite these industrial announcements, several Ukrainian frontline units continue reporting recurring shortages of artillery munitions, a persistent gap between announcements of future **industrial capacity** and the immediate needs of soldiers facing **Russian artillery** daily on the ground.

This gap, documented by several correspondents and military analysts following the situation at the front, **reminds us** that industrial announcements, however encouraging, often take months or even years before translating into a **measurable improvement** in the actual supply of combat units.

### Measured hope rather than an immediate solution

Ukrainian **military officials** are welcoming these **Rheinmetall** announcements with measured optimism, aware that the promised industrial ramp-up in **output** will not solve immediate shortages at the front, but could gradually improve the logistics situation in the months and years following the full deployment of these new production capacities.

This caution in welcoming good industrial news reflects a reality learned over **four years** of war: between the announcement of a production capacity and its actual availability on the battlefield, the delay often remains longer than Ukrainian combat forces would like.

*I understand the hope these announcements generate, but I refuse to give in to easy enthusiasm. As long as soldiers at the front report shortages, no industrial announcement deserves to be celebrated as a victory already won.*

## Rheinmetall, a central player in the Western industrial effort

### A company that has become indispensable since 2022

**Rheinmetall** has established itself, since the start of Russia's **invasion** of **Ukraine** in 2022, as one of the most visible industrial players in Europe's rearmament effort, multiplying announcements of expanded production capacity in several countries on the continent to meet demand unseen since the end of the Cold War.

This **central position** gives the German company particular responsibility for the overall **credibility** of the industrial commitments made by Western Allies toward **Ukraine**, with every delay or success in its production projects closely scrutinized by observers of this conflict.

### Growth that reflects the scale of the need

**Rheinmetall's** rapid growth since 2022, both in production capacity and stock market value, illustrates the scale of the industrial need generated by a high-intensity war Europe had not seen in decades, a need Western **defense industry** still struggles to fully meet despite these growing **investments**.

This growth also underscores, by contrast, the scale of historic underinvestment in Europe's **defense industry** before 2022, a structural deficit that even **Rheinmetall's** most ambitious efforts cannot close overnight.

*Rheinmetall has become, almost in spite of itself, the industrial symbol of this war. But I never forget that its stock market growth rests on a human tragedy that continues to cost lives every day in Ukraine.*

## The limits of what can be said today

### Deployment timelines still uncertain

Caution is warranted regarding the exact timelines for full deployment of the Spanish site and the Ukrainian factory under construction, as industrial announcements of this kind have historically carried significant margins of uncertainty, particularly in the context of an active war that complicates the logistics of building and securing infrastructure.

This **methodological caution** is necessary given a file where precise production capacity figures remain partly confidential for operational security reasons, a reality that limits the possibility of **fully independent verification** of the figures put forward by the company.

### Partial **transparency** typical of the defense sector

This partial opacity is not unique to **Rheinmetall**, but characterizes the entire defense industrial sector, where full disclosure of production capacity is itself a matter of national security, both for producing countries and for **Ukraine**, which obviously does not wish to reveal its precise logistical **vulnerabilities** to the Russian adversary.

This **structural reality** justifies a cautious reading of any industrial announcement in this sector, without calling into question the overall reality of the **expansion effort** documented by multiple converging sources in recent months.

*I always prefer to clearly state what I do not know rather than give in to easy enthusiasm. This partial opacity around exact production figures remains, for me, the honest limit of this testimony.*

## What this means for European autonomy

### An industrial lesson for the whole continent

**Rheinmetall's** expansion in **Spain** and its factory project in **Ukraine** fit into a broader trend of relocating and diversifying **European defense** production, a lesson drawn directly from the **vulnerabilities** revealed by **four years** of high-intensity war on the European Union's doorstep.

This trend, if it continues and accelerates in coming years, could durably transform the continent's defense industrial landscape, gradually reducing Europe's historic dependence on military equipment imports from the United States and other outside partners.

### A long road still ahead toward full autonomy

This European industrial autonomy nonetheless remains a long-term path, requiring sustained **investment** over several years in supply chains, training a specialized workforce, and developing proprietary technologies, structural challenges that **Rheinmetall's** one-off announcements, however important, cannot resolve alone.

This **path**, begun under the direct pressure of the war in **Ukraine**, could nonetheless become one of the most **lasting industrial legacies** of this conflict for the entire European continent, well beyond the sole question of Ukraine's immediate supply needs.

*This war has at least forced Europe to confront its own industrial dependence. Rheinmetall is just one example among others of an awakening that, I hope, will not fade once this war ends.*

## Comparison with other major European producers

### KNDS, Nammo and other sector players

**Rheinmetall** is not the only European player investing heavily in expanding munitions production capacity since 2022: groups like **KNDS** or Norway's **Nammo** have also announced significant **investments** to meet demand generated by the war in **Ukraine**, a collective dynamic that goes beyond the German company alone.

This collective European dynamic, while positive, remains uneven across countries and companies, with some players progressing faster than others in their ramp-up, which complicates a precise overall assessment of the continental production capacity available to sustain **Ukraine** over time.

### European coordination still needs improvement

Several analysts note that coordination among these different European munitions producers remains imperfect, with each company and country tending to announce its own projects without always fitting into a fully integrated continental industrial plan at the level of the **European Union** or **NATO**.

This **industrial fragmentation**, inherited from decades of distinct national defense policies, is one of the **structural challenges** Europe will need to resolve if it truly wants to reach the production autonomy it needs against a Russian threat now labeled structural by **NATO**.

## Conclusion: the shell, a silent indicator of this war

### What this industrial acceleration clearly establishes

The acceleration of **155mm** munitions production by **Rheinmetall**, between **Spain** and the factory project in **Ukraine**, confirms a well-documented underlying trend: Europe's **defense industry** continues to transform under the direct pressure of Russia's war against **Ukraine**, even if this transformation remains slower than Ukrainian forces on the ground would like.

This trend deserves close attention, as it is one of the most reliable indicators of the West's real capacity to sustain Ukraine's war effort over time, well beyond mere political declarations and financial commitments announced at diplomatic summits.

### What to watch in the months ahead

The true measure of this industrial expansion's success will be seen in the months ahead: will the Spanish site reach its announced full production capacity, and will the Ukrainian factory under construction actually enter service despite the security risks inherent in its location in an active war zone?

This question will remain, for this columnist, one of the most concrete indicators to watch in assessing whether Western commitment to **Ukraine** truly translates into durable **industrial capacity**, or whether it remains, like some past promises, more declarative than operational.

*I close this testimony with cautious hope: seeing Rheinmetall invest directly on Ukrainian soil is a strong signal. But I will keep checking, month after month, whether this long-awaited shell truly reaches the front.*

*The history of this war will not be written only in summit communiqués, but also in the production rates of obscure industrial sites in Spain and Ukraine. It is there, far from the spotlight, that a decisive part of this resistance is being decided.*

**By Maxime Marquette, columnist**

## Columnist's transparency note

### Editorial stance

I am not a journalist but a **columnist and analyst**. My expertise lies in observing and analysing the geopolitical, economic and strategic dynamics that shape our world. My work is to take political strategies apart, to understand global economic movements, to put the decisions of international actors in context and to offer analytical perspectives on the changes that are redefining our societies.

I do not claim the cold objectivity of traditional journalism, which stops at reporting facts. **I claim analytical clarity**, rigorous interpretation and a deep understanding of the complex issues that concern us all. My role is to give meaning to the facts, to place them in their historical and strategic context, and to offer a critical reading of events.

### Method and sources

This text keeps the basic distinction between **verified facts and interpretive analysis**. The rule never changes: a factual claim is published only when a verifiable source supports it, and the sources this article actually used are listed under **Sources**, never here.

**Primary source families** used by the publication, when the story has them: official statements from governments and international institutions, public statements by political leaders, reports from intergovernmental organisations, dispatches from recognised international news agencies.

**Secondary source families**: specialised publications, internationally recognised news media, analyses from established research institutions, reports from industry organisations.

When an article cites statistical, economic or geopolitical data, it comes from the institutions that produce it (intergovernmental organisations, central banks, national statistics offices), and the exact institution is named under **Sources**.

### Nature of the analysis

The analyses, interpretations and perspectives in the analytical sections of this article are a **critical, contextual synthesis** based on the information available, the trends observed and the expert comments cited in the sources consulted.

My role is to interpret these facts, to set them in the context of today's geopolitical and economic dynamics, and to give them a coherent meaning within the larger story of the changes shaping our time. These analyses reflect expertise built through continuous observation of international affairs and an understanding of the strategic mechanisms that drive global actors.

This article describes a documented state of affairs on its publication date, not a prediction: later developments may shift its outlook. No update is promised in advance; when an article is corrected or completed, the change is dated in the text.

## Sources

### Primary sources

- Ministry of Defense of Ukraine — official statements on the defense industry, July 2026

- Army Inform — coverage of defense industrial cooperation, July 2026

- Militarnyi — analysis of munitions production for Ukraine

### Secondary sources

- Defense News — coverage of Rheinmetall's expansion

- Foreign Policy — analysis of Europe's defense industry

- Military Times — coverage of Western munitions production

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Source: Maxime Marquette, MadMax. When citing, name the author and link https://mad-max.co/en/article/rheinmetall-accelere-en-espagne-et-en-ukraine-l-obus-qui-manque-au-front