VIENNA \u2014 Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall have signed an agreement to co-produce the U.S. Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) at Rheinmetall\u2019s Unterl\u00fc\u00df site in northern Germany, marking the first time the ballistic missile is set to be manufactured outside the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The memorandum of understanding, announced at the NATO Summit Defense Industry Forum in Ankara, was backed by both the U.S. and German governments and is described by the companies as a step toward a joint venture that would create a European \u201ccentre of excellence\u201d for manufacturing, integrating and distributing ATACMS to NATO and allied forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger called Unterl\u00fc\u00df\u2019s selection a way to strengthen \u201cthe industrial base in Germany for modern defense systems,\u201d while Lockheed Martin\u2019s European chief, Dennis Goege, framed the deal as pairing \u201cproven U.S. technology with European manufacturing strength.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unterl\u00fc\u00df, a 125-year-old Rheinmetall site employing roughly 4,000 people, has been expanding rapidly: a new artillery-ammunition plant opened last year, and a rocket-motor factory now nearing completion is slated to begin producing motors and guided-missile components as early as 2027. That timeline tracks with earlier statements from Papperger, who in May said full missile production would start in 2027 and scale up through 2028 and 2029 to meet what Rheinmetall estimates is annual European and Ukrainian demand of 600 to 800 ATACMS units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move addresses a real bottleneck. Lockheed Martin has been winding down ATACMS output at its Camden, Arkansas, plant as it prioritizes the newer Precision Strike Missile, which is set to eventually replace ATACMS in the U.S. arsenal \u2212 even as European and Ukrainian demand for the older missile remains high. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once implemented, the site in Germany will be the first non-American location to produce ATACMS missiles. Lockheed says it will keep running the Arkansas line until the transition to European production is complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rheinmetall-Lockheed partnership has been building for over a year: the two firms first signed a missile-cooperation MOU in 2024, expanded it in April 2025 to cover a broader \u201cCenter of Competence\u201d for missiles and guided weapons, and by last August were already discussing ATACMS and Hellfire specifically for Unterl\u00fc\u00df. Whether Tuesday\u2019s MOU translates into an approved joint venture still depends on U.S. government sign-off, since ATACMS technology transfer requires Washington\u2019s consent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The move addresses a bottleneck, as Lockheed Martin has been winding down ATACMS output at its Camden, Arkansas, site while prioritizing newer missiles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":120889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":46,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,46,11,14,36],"tags":[8614],"coauthors":[3463],"class_list":["post-73180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-europe","category-global","category-land","category-newsletters","tag-germany"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"OAGJAUX5KFAVZHSZZ7LGGNRZ7Y","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/europe\/2026\/07\/07\/germany-set-to-become-first-international-site-for-atacms-missile-production\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n