Rheinmetall To Break Ground for Fuselage Assembly Plant in Germany
Dusseldorf — German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall will symbolically break ground on Tuesday on an assembly line for parts of the fuselage for F-35 stealth fighter jets.
Rheinmetall is building a factory in the town of Weeze, in western Germany, to manufacture components for the centre fuselage of the military aircraft.
The parts for at least 400 F-35s are to be produced there from 2025.
It is the first time that money from the German federal government's €100 billion special fund for the armed forces has been invested in a new production facility, creating 400 jobs.
The German government had ordered 35 of the US military aircraft for €8.3 billion last year. The F-35 is scheduled to replace ageing Tornado jets by 2030.
Rheinmetall is only a small partner in the project with two big US defence companies, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
How much money will go to Rheinmetall has not been disclosed.
Armin Papperger, the head of Rheinmetall, said he considered the F-35 project a "real know-how transfer to Germany."
North Rhine Westphalia state premier Hendrik Wüst and representatives of the German armed forces are expected to attend the ground-breaking ceremony at the Weeze Airport industrial park.
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