Rheinmetall

Infobox_Company
company_name = Rheinmetall AG
company_
company_type = Public
(fwbr|RHMG)
foundation = 13 April 1889
founder = Heinrich Ehrhardt
location_city = Düsseldorf
location_country = Germany
area_served =
key_people =
industry = Automotive
Defence
products = Automotive parts
Military Vehicles and Systems
revenue = profit €4 Billion (2007)
operating_income = profit €270 Million (2007)
net_income = profit €150 Million (2007)
num_employees = 19,185 (2007)
company_slogan =
homepage = [http://www.rheinmetall.com/ www.Rheinmetall.com]

Rheinmetall AG is a German automotive and defense company with factories in Düsseldorf, Kassel and Unterlüß.

It was founded on 13th April 1889 by Heinrich Ehrhardt, with help from a consortium of banks, as Rheinische Metallwaren- und Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft.

It has a long tradition of making guns and artillery pieces. The company is also involved in a variety of advanced metal-working and milling technologies. This has allowed it to provide special high-quality components for small arms in addition to its heavy weapon production.

In 1993 Rheinmetall acquired the Mauser AG and in 1996 and 1999 the majority share-holdings of STN Atlas and Oerlikon Contraves, all of which are major European defense companies. STN Atlas was later split into Atlas Elektronik and Rheinmetall Defence Electronics, the latter is now a full subsidiary of Rheinmetall.

In March 2008, Rheinmetall acquired Dutch defence company Stork PKV.

Rheinmetall made bomb fuses during World War II, notably a double-capacitor design which was particularly dangerous to defuse should the bomb not explode on impact. Many bomb disposal personnel were killed.Fact|date=February 2007 The patent for the fuse was filed in the UK two years before Hitler came to power and the UK Armed Forces spotted this and the patent then helped enormously with disarming these particular bombs.Fact|date=February 2007 The US Patent Office put a 32-year secrecy order on a similar patent by the University of Illinois in 1948.

The MG 42, the general-purpose medium machine gun of the Wehrmacht, was also built by Rheinmetall. Its successor, the MG3, is still used by the Bundeswehr.

Products

Examples include:

Modern

* Rheinmetall 120mm Gun - both the L44 an L55 versions which arm the Leopard 2, M1A1 and A2 and Type 90 MBT
* Rheinmetall M35 - 105mm main gun of the M8-AGS Buford Armoured Gun System
* 155 mm L52 Artillery Gun - main gun of PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzer
* MG3 - 7.62mm universal machine gun
* RMK30 a 30mm recoilless, caseless autocannon
* Rheinmetall LTA2 - main gun of TAM tank
* MK 20 Rh202 - 20 mm autocannon, primary armament of Marder, Luchs and Wiesel armoured fighting vehicles
* Rheinmetall 20mm Twin Anti-Aircraft Cannon - anti-aircraft gun
* GDM-008 Millennium - 35mm naval air-defence gun
* Skyguard - 35mm air-defence gun system
* Skyshield - 35mm air-defence gun system
* MLG 27 - 27mm remote controlled autocannon, used on many ships of the German Navy
* AGF (Light infantry vehicle)
* Rheinmetall YAK - armoured wheeled vehicle
* Wiesel AWC - armoured weapons carrier in different versions
* GTK Boxer - multirole armoured vehicle
* Puma (IFV) - next generation infantry fighting vehicle of the German Army
* Mungo ESK - armoured transport vehicle
* TPz Fuchs - multirole armoured vehicle
* LeFlaSys - light air-defence missile system, based on Wiesel 2
* Jacket cradle of Oto Melara
* KZO - tactical UAV
* IdZ-ES - The German Bundeswehr's Future Soldier program
* NBC protection systems
* Ammunition
* Cargo loading and aviation systems
* Simulators
* NBC reconnaissance systems
* Power supply systems

WWII and pre-WWII products

* QF 15 pounder field gun sold to Britain in 1900
* 7.5cm Kwk 42 (L/70) tank gun that was used in the famed German Panther tank of World War II
* 7.5 cm Leichtgeschütz 40 - recoilless gun predominantly used by paratroops during World War II
* 88 mm gun - Flak and anti-tank gun of World War II
* Solothurn S-18/1000 20mm Anti-Tank rifle
*Rheinmetall MK 108 well-known WWII 30mm

Gallery

In fiction

The Rheinmetall company name appears in some science fiction role-playing games, including Cyberpunk 2020 and the Computer role-playing game Fallout.

External links

* [http://www.rheinmetall.com/ Rheinmetall corporate homepage]
* [http://blogsareaboutego.blogspot.com/2008/02/rheinmetallvictoria-8.html A Rodney Graham installation at the MoMA centering on a film of a Rheinmetall typewriter]