Netherlands orders 155mm ammunition

21st October 2021 - 17:00 GMT | by The Shephard News Team

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Rheinmetall recently demonstrated 155mm ammunition in South Africa. (Photo: Rheinmetall)

Netherlands defence procurement agency DMO has placed an order with Rheinmetall for artillery ammunition.

Rheinmetall will provide 155mm Assegai IR illumination and smoke/obscurant rounds for delivery to the Netherlands by mid-2023, under a new deal with Dutch procurement agency DMO.

This ammunition — demonstrated recently to DMO officials via video link from the Alkantpan proving ground in South Africa — will complement high-explosive shells already fielded by the Dutch military.

Rheinmetall did not disclose the value of the deal but stated on 21 October that it is in the ‘two-digit million-euro range’.

The DMO contract forms part of a multi-year ammunition framework contract between the Netherlands Armed Forces and Rheinmetall.

When fired from the 155mm L52 howitzer with modular propelling charges, the illumination and smoke/obscurant projectiles can reach a range of 40km. Using the special top charge increases the range by 15%, Rheinmetall calculates.

Besides the smoke/obscurant and IR illumination shells, Rheinmetall also presented its new RH141 projectile at Alkantpan.

‘Newly engineered, this insensitive high explosive round is designed to be fired from the L60 howitzer, which is now under development,’ the company stated.