The signing of a defence agreement between the UK and Germany will see the return of large calibre gun barrel manufacture to UK shores after a decade-long capability gap, in particular those for the RCH 155 self-propelled howitzer (SPH).
In a 23 October 2024, statement, the UK government said the Trinity House Agreement, which will be signed by Secretary of State for Defence John Healey and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius, marked “a fundamental shift” in the UK’s relationship with Germany and overall European security.
A key aspect for the deal will see German defence prime Rheinmetall establish a large calibre barrel manufacturing facility in the UK, reintroducing a key industrial capability after a ten-year absence in a move that will support more than 400 jobs and “nearly half a billion-pounds boost to the British economy”, the government stated.
Steel for the UK-manufactured artillery gun barrels will be produced by the nationalised Sheffield Forgemasters.
Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall said the deal “ensures the UK remains a leader in development and manufacturing defence technologies”, as the company secures an ever-greater role in the UK’s recapitalisation of its land domain forces.
RCH 155 and 120mm barrel manufacture for UK only?
It understood that the UK site will manufacture 155mm barrels for the RCH 155 SPH as well as 120mm gun barrels used on main battle tanks (MBT), in what will be a key defence industrial capability.
The UK earlier in 2024 agreed a deal with German on the joint development of the RCH 155 SPH, which was selected as the British Army’s new Mobile Fires Platform (MFP) as a replacement for the AS90 155mm SPHs, most of which have been donated to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the manufacture of 120mm gun barrels in the UK will likely feed into the ongoing Challenger 3 MBT programme, which will see the modernisation of the 148 Challenger 2 tanks to the new standard. The Challenger 3 features the Rheinmetall L55A1 120mm smoothbore gun, which is also being fitted to new-generation Leopard 2 MBTs operated by a range of European countries, including Germany.
The value of the UK’s contribution to the RCH 155 programme was stated as being up to £3bn in April 2024, indicating a potential range of artillery platforms being acquired of up to 291, based on the average cost of an earlier agreement between Germany and Ukraine.
However, basing the projected number of RCH 155 on the earlier MFP budget of £800m, up to 77 SPHs could be acquired for the British Army.
It is not clear whether the UK site will only manufacture barrels for UK RCH 155 platforms or whether it would also include German acquisitions as well.
Similarly, it is not known whether the manufacture of 120mm tank gun barrels at the UK-based Rheinmetall site will feed into wider European procurements, or whether it is constrained to UK shores.
