Germany’s Rheinmetall Converts Auto Plant for Mass Strike Drone Production

Germany’s largest defense contractor, Rheinmetall, is launching serial production of its new FV-014 loitering munition, marking Berlin’s latest push into the rapidly expanding attack drone sector, according to Focus on May 12.

Speaking during the company’s online shareholder meeting, Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said production of the FV-014 system is now moving to full-scale manufacturing at the company’s facility in Neuss, Germany.

According to Papperger, the drone was developed in just a few months. The FV-014 has a strike range of up to 100 kilometers, can remain airborne for roughly 70 minutes, and carries a 4-kilogram warhead.

The drone itself will be assembled in Germany, while its warhead will be produced in Italy. To support the program, Rheinmetall is converting a former automotive parts factory in Neuss into a dedicated drone production site.

The FV-014 is designed as a one-way attack drone launched directly from a container. After launch, the UAV searches for a target autonomously. If no target is identified within its mission window, the drone reportedly performs a controlled crash instead of striking randomly.

The Bundeswehr has already placed orders worth €300 million for the system under a framework agreement that could later expand with additional purchases.

The first deliveries are expected next year as Germany and other European states accelerate investments in loitering munitions and battlefield drone technologies shaped by lessons from the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

Earlier, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, during a visit to Kyiv, said that Germany plans to closely study Ukraine’s DELTA battlefield management and situational awareness system later this year, while the Bundeswehr continues to actively absorb combat lessons from Ukraine’s war against Russia.

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