Rheinmetall, Romania's Romarm to build explosives plant - report

A team of Rheinmetall technicians will arrive in Romania in the beginning of August to draw an action plan for the construction of the facility, Oprea said in an interview for news channel Digi24 on Friday.

Romania has been discussing the project with Rheinmetall for two years, he added.

On Friday, the European Commission released a fact sheet showing that the project received 47 million euro ($52.1 million) in EU funds out of ASAP's total budget of 500 million euro. According to the Commission, the programme is expected to help Europe reach a production capacity of 2 million shells per year by 2025. The ASAP ammunition programme is part of a broader 2 billion euro initiative to bolster the EU's defence industry, of which 1.1 billion euro were allotted to research and development projects, the EC said in a press release.

Romania manufactures ammunition of all calibres, as well as explosives such as grenades and rockets, Ordea said, adding that Romarm will soon start producing SkyCeptor rockets for Raytheon's Patriot system, following a memorandum that it signed with the American arms manufacturer in 2022.

Romarm is a state-owned military equipment enterprise. Founded in 2000, the company supplies miscellaneous military equipment, ammunition, as well as a range of maintenance services in Romania. According to finance ministry data, Romarm recorded a net profit of 3.6 million lei on a turnover of 761.7 million lei in 2022.

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