Rheinmetall’s subsidiary in Spain specializes in producing ammunition supplied to Ukraine
An explosion at the ammunition factory of Rheinmetall’s subsidiary in the southeastern Spanish municipality of Murcia on Thursday injured six workers, one of whom is in serious condition. The German arms giant is a major supplier of weapons to Ukraine.
The incident at the industrial site in Javali Viejo occurred at approximately 4:20pm, according to emergency services. Multiple employees, aged between 30 and 52, suffered burns, contusions, and smoke inhalation. A 52-year-old man sustained a traumatic brain injury. Five people were taken to a hospital, while another man received treatment at the site.
Germany’s Rheinmetall acquired the Spanish company Expal Systems in August 2023 in a deal worth $1.3 billion. The company, now called Expal Munitions, specializes in manufacturing aerial bombs, mortar and medium-caliber rounds, fuses and rocket propulsion systems, as well as 155mm artillery shells supplied to Ukraine by Spain and other EU states.
Expal Munitions operates seven facilities in Spain, including the plant in Murcia. However, specific details about which plants produce munitions for Kiev have not been publicly disclosed.
Rheinmetall announced a significant order for 155mm ammunition worth €142 million ($155 million) in December 2023. While the company did not disclose the customer, its statement indicated the order came from “a NATO partner nation” committed to providing long-term military support to Ukraine. The delivery was scheduled for 2025, with production set to take place at Rheinmetall’s facilities in Spain. In late December 2024, the company announced another contract to supply Ukraine with “tens of thousands of 155mm artillery propellant charge modules of various types.”
The German arms giant, which has a market capitalization of around $34 billion, also produces a vast array of other weapons supplied to Ukraine, including Leopard tanks, armored personnel carriers and air defense systems. Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, the company’s profits have reportedly nearly doubled as of the first half of 2024.
Rheinmetall previously announced a plan to open four arms factories in Ukraine, with the first facility already operational as of October 2024. Asked whether the facilities would be a “legitimate target” for the Russian military, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied, “Of course, yes.”
Moscow has denounced Western involvement in the conflict, arguing that support for Kiev benefits the military-industrial complex at the expense of EU and US taxpayers and Ukrainian lives. Russia maintains that no amount of military aid to Kiev will change the outcome of the conflict and will only prolong the fighting.
