Large caliber gun barrels for tanks and artillery are being made in the UK for the first time in 20 years after German defense group Rheinmetall officially opened its UK Gun Hall in Telford today.
The Shropshire plant makes barrels and breeches for 120mm and 155mm weapon systems, including the RCH 155 howitzer and future artillery platforms, according to Rheinmetall. The company said the work also supports the Challenger 3 main battle tank program.
Wes Streeting, the defense secretary, attended the opening ceremony with Armin Papperger, chief executive of Rheinmetall AG.
“Britain is back in the business of making weapons that our Armed Forces need to defend the nation against our enemies,” said Streeting. “From an empty site to full production in eight months, this is an act of rapid reindustrialization.”
“One hundred jobs in world-class manufacturing and bringing the production of large-caliber weapons to British soil for the first time in 20 years,” he said, adding: “This is defense as an engine for growth.”
Rheinmetall says the facility will support more than 100 skilled jobs as production expands. It currently employs 35 people at Gun Hall and around 685 at its Telford operation.
The site has a production space of 11,500 square meters and at peak capacity can produce up to 245 barrels per year in both calibers, as well as more than 50 breeches, the company said. Production of breeches and breech blocks begins in May, followed by barrels in June.
Specialist jobs are being recruited from the Telford area. Before production began, British staff were trained at Rheinmetall’s factory in Unterlüß, Germany, in precision manufacturing, quality assurance and specialist weapons production. The company said it will continue to add to its workforce as output increases.
The site also received funding through a £53m contract awarded in March by the procurement agency OCCAR on behalf of the British Army for the RCH 155 weapon system. According to Defense Equipment and Support, £30m of the contract was allocated to develop the Telford Gun Hall, which will give the UK operational independence in the production of gun barrels.
Rheinmetall said Gun Hall is part of more than £200m it has invested in its UK operations over the past five years. The company has participated in the Boxer armored vehicle program and the Challenger 3 tank upgrade. It describes the plant as an example of the British-German industrial partnership established under the Trinity House Agreement, which the two countries signed in October 2024.
Rheinmetall said it plans to introduce British steel from Sheffield Forgemasters, the steelmaker nationalized by the Ministry of Defense in 2021, into production in Telford. The company also said it will work with UK small and medium-sized companies to build a long-term domestic supply chain as production ramps up.
Trade body Make UK Defense has previously called for foreign companies that win MoD contracts to be legally required to reinvest between 75 per cent and 90 per cent of the contract’s value in the UK within 10 years, arguing that a commitment to cover losses would channel more defense spending to smaller manufacturers.
Papperger said the opening was a “significant milestone” for Rheinmetall and the UK, and that the plant would strengthen Britain’s defense industrial base “for decades to come”.
“We are committed to investing in the UK for the long term, expanding our industrial footprint and working together to deliver the capabilities needed for the future,” he added.
Rebecca Richards, managing director of Rheinmetall UK, said: “In eight months, we turned an empty facility into an operational manufacturing capability by investing in British people, British skills and British industry.”
The revelations follow Ministry of Defense figures published in August which showed that jobs supported by defense spending in weapons, ammunition and military combat vehicle manufacturing will rise by 51 per cent in 2024/25, to 5,900.
The government’s Defense Investment Plan commits £298bn to defense over four years. In July, Streeting told the industry that more than £11.8bn of contracts had been agreed within 10 days of the plan being published.