Rheinmetall Building New Facility to Destroy Millions of Tonnes of Legacy Ammunition

Rheinmetall is constructing a new facility in Germany’s Bavaria to dispose of millions of tonnes of legacy ammunition from past conflicts and current stockpiles.

The company has acquired a 41-hectare site in the Lerchenberg area of Zusamaltheim, Dillingen an der Donau district, where the disposal plant is scheduled to begin operations early next year. The property, a former Bundeswehr depot, includes 32 bunkers capable of storing up to 900 tonnes of net explosive mass.

The planned facility will target unexploded ordnance from both world wars, as well as “newer stockpiled ammunition.” It will also handle disposal of old stocks from the Bundeswehr and other NATO forces.

According to German estimates, about 1.6 million tonnes of munitions are lying on the seabed of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, including artillery shells, sea mines, and aircraft bombs. More than 2 million tonnes of bombs were dropped on Germany and occupied territories during World War II. In southern Germany alone, authorities estimate that over 20,000 tonnes of old ammunition remain to be neutralized.

The project builds on Rheinmetall’s April 2025 acquisition of Stascheit GmbH, an ammunition recovery company based in Gardelegen, Saxony-Anhalt. Stascheit specializes in the detection, evaluation, recovery, and destruction of explosive ordnance, including in offshore wind farm areas. Both Stascheit and the new Bavarian site will operate under Rheinmetall’s Projects & Services business unit.