Rheinmetall Munitions has won three framework contracts from the US Navy and the US Marine Corps (USMC) for the delivery of advanced infantry and screening smoke munitions.
The three IDIQ framework contracts, worth $127.8m and running through 2019, comprise one for the delivery of M1110 40 x 46mm day/night training cartridge and two for 66mm vehicle-launched screening smoke grenades.
To be built at the company’s Camden facility in Arkansas, initial deliveries of 40mm ammunition are scheduled to commence in mid-2015.
However, the 66mm grenades ordered by both the USMC and the US Navy will be built at the Rheinmetall’s Neuenburg plant in Germany.
Already eligible for deployment by the Marine Corps, the M1110 40 x 46mm low-velocity (LV) cartridge is mainly aimed at allowing infantry forces to conduct live fire training at night, as well as in all weather and range conditions.
Currently deployed by global militaries, including the US, the UK and several other Nato countries, Rheinmetall’s family of 66mm smoke grenades are claimed to be the world’s most advanced screening and obscuration munitions for vehicle protection.
Rheinmetall’s 66mm smoke grenades use a composition of red phosphorus (RP) that offers effective and durable screening effects in both the visual and infrared bands and secures combat vehicles from observation and laser illuminators, targeting devices and rangefinders.
