Rheinmetall AGM: FV-014 Loitering Munition Enters Series Production at Neuss; €300M Initial Order Within €1BN Bundeswehr Framework
Neuss, 12 May 2026
Key points
- Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger announced at the Annual General Meeting on 12 May that series production of the FV-014 loitering munition has launched at the Neuss site — a repurposed former automotive-parts plant — with initial manufacturing already running in Braunschweig
- System specification: 100 km range, 70-minute loiter time, 4 kg dual-purpose warhead; final assembly in Germany, warhead production in Italy — entirely within EU-only supply chain
- Bundeswehr framework contract: €300 million initial order within a €1 billion total framework covering a five-figure number of drones; deliveries begin H1 2027
Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger announced at the company's Annual General Meeting on 12 May that series production of the FV-014 loitering munition has launched at the Neuss site — a repurposed former automotive-parts plant — with a €300 million initial Bundeswehr order placed inside a €1 billion total framework agreement covering a five-figure number of drones and deliveries beginning H1 2027.
The FV-014 system specification: 100 kilometres range, 70-minute loiter time, and a four-kilogram dual-purpose warhead. Final assembly is in Germany; warhead production is in Italy — entirely within an EU-only supply chain. Initial manufacturing is already running at Rheinmetall's Braunschweig facility; Neuss is the high-rate production site. The Bundeswehr framework agreement covers a five-figure number of systems through 2030.
The Rheinmetall AGM context tightens the picture: a record €73 billion order backlog and a 42% dividend uplift to €11.50 per share were not enough to lift a share price that closed Monday at a 52-week low of €1,184 — approximately 40% below the September 2025 peak. The European prime-defence equity derating is now visible at the AGM level, confirming that the equity question has shifted from top-line growth to cash conversion.
The structural element is the production line, not the kit specification. Germany's largest defence prime is repurposing a civilian automotive site for high-rate ordnance production — the Neuss step is the test case for industrial-site conversion as a serial template for the rest of the Bundeswehr drone procurement track. A capacity-build trajectory first surfaced in Signal No. 58.
Sources: Rheinmetall AG, Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, Bundesamt für Ausrüstung Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr.
First reported in Signal No. 58, 12 May 2026.