Oto Melara, here is the strategy of the German Rheinmetall

15 June 20222 years ago babelfish

German defense giant Rheinmetall ready to take over up to 49% of Oto Melara with an industrial development plan to work on replacing Army tanks with the aim of entering the European future tank program (Mbt)

The German defense group Rheinmetall wants to invest in Italy by purchasing up to 49% of Oto Melara, the land armaments subsidiary offered for sale by Leonardo together with the other Wass unit.

At the end of May, the company led by Armin Papperger presented a non-binding offer to Leonardo worth between 190 and 210 million euros for the former Oto.

As already exposed in parliamentary hearings by the CEO of Rheinmetall Italia Alessandro Ercolani, Rheinmetall proposes itself as a strategic partner of our country in the terrestrial sector. In this way, the Italo-German axis on defense would be strengthened, started with Leonardo's acquisition of 25.1% of Hensoldt, a German defense electronics company.

As emerges from the proposal sent to Leonardo and to the ministers following the dossier (Guerini, Giorgetti and Franco) – which Startmag has seen – the growth strategy for Oto Melara would be identified in the future land programs for the infantry.

Starting from the new light tank – Aifv – for the replacement of the Dardo up to the participation in the program of the future European tank.

“The Mbt program is expected from 2035, and Italy could play an essential role: not only in 15 years but also in the study phase currently underway”, Papperger underlined to Sole 24 Ore in the spring.

In these programs, the combination of Rheinmetall and Oto Melara would give life to a national military pole functional to the consolidation of the Italian land sector.

The last word, however, belongs to the government, which controls Leonardo (30% through the Mef). "The goal is to work on maintaining a national presidium open to European industrial cooperation", the Minister of Defense Guerini pointed out last November, when asked about the Oto Melara dossier.

THE RHEINMETALL STRATEGY FOR OTO MELARA

First of all, with the proposed acquisition of 49% of Oto Melara (with the relative option to increase the share by 2%), the German group focuses on the industrial plan which, in a context of full cooperation, makes it possible for the Leonardo subsidiary to participate. to future international and EU programs.

Furthermore, Rheinmetall speaks of maintaining the full sovereignty of the industrial structure of Oto Melara, which would remain an autonomous and independent company. As desired by politics and trade unions.

Indeed, the Oto Melara product portfolio would integrate with Rheinmetall's in order to mutually reinforce each other.

OTO MELARA FULCRO OF THE TERRESTRIAL POLE

All this is part of the vision that aims to create a national center of excellence in the terrestrial sector, led and managed by Oto Melara itself, which will immediately have to focus on the program for the new Light Tank (Infantry Fighting Vehicle). and on the future European tank Mbt.

"Precisely in the Oto Melara plants we see the epicenter of the terrestrial industrial activity acting as an" aggregator "for the other national actors in order to reach that" international and European "dimension necessary to face the upcoming challenges" he explained in a hearing in the Chamber last year. December Alessandro Ercolani, CEO of Rheinmetall Italia.

In particular on the tracked vehicle programs, Rheinmetall is a leading supplier, it will guarantee a high level integration with Oto Melara, with the possibility of creating a competence center in Italy.

If the Army were to choose the German Lynx proposed by Rheinmetall to replace the Dardo, it would still be an Italian Lynx, produced in the Oto Melara plants. Furthermore, our country could obtain the integration on the vehicle of the turret produced by Oto-Melara and Leonardo sensors.

Again in its non-binding offer, Rheinmetall mentions the possibility of deepening industrial relations even with Leonardo itself.

THE REQUIREMENTS PROVIDED BY THE DEFENSE DPP

To replace the Dardo light tracked vehicle, the Army has planned an acquisition program of approximately 400/600 new vehicles with entry into service starting from 2026/2027. For this program, the 2021/2023 Multiannual Defense Policy Document provides that the Italian Defense will equip itself with solutions that "maximize returns at industrial, occupational and national technological know-how" levels that are expressed in "planning in a context multinational based on alliances between solid European companies that already collaborate with Italian companies ”, allocating, in this first phase, a financial endowment of approximately 2 billion euros.

moreover, the DPP also indicates the development program of the future European Main Battle Tank as "a capacity which the Army needs to equip itself as a guideline starting from 2035 and whose realization is consequential and strictly correlated to the new program for the AIFV light tank ". After having identified "the development trajectory", the DPP sees in the MBT the need for an "international approach" to "strengthen strategic and industrial cooperation with Allied and partner countries, positioning the nation as a contributor and beneficiary of future developments in the capacitive segment. of armored and heavy vehicles, raising their industrial capabilities ". To date, the Defense plans to acquire about 400 units of this structure to replace the Ariete tank.

POTENTIAL INVESTMENT IN WASS

Finally, since Leonardo has put up for sale Oto Melara and Wass, the naval division that deals with underwater sensors and torpedoes, Rheinmetall has proposed the willingness to jointly define a dedicated industrial plan, suitable for becoming a potential investment in the future.

TOWARDS THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE EUROPEAN DEFENSE INDUSTRY

Finally, the Rheinmetall project with Oto Melara would also be part of the process of consolidating European defense. Suffice it to say that in the land segment, European manufacturers offer more than a dozen different tanks. “Our security spending is about three times that of Russia, but it is divided into 146 defense systems. The United States has only 34. It is a profoundly inefficient distribution of resources, which hinders the construction of a true European defense ”said Prime Minister Mario Draghi during his speech in the European Parliament on 3 May .

GUERINI'S WORDS ON EUROPEAN DEFENSE

And Defense Minister Guerini also recently returned to the issue of consolidating European defense in a telephone conversation with the EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton.

Our country is ready "to take on a leading role in the great European defense construction project", and this above all thanks to the "strength of the Italian industry in the defense sector, functional to strengthening the European technological and industrial base". The Italian minister reiterated the importance of "creating synergies within a cooperative market model". "The consolidation of European autonomy in strategic industrial sectors is a project in which Italy strongly believes – added Guerini – it is a work to be done together, with great seriousness and commitment, in full spirit of cohesion and unity of purpose ".

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/oto-melara-ecco-la-strategia-della-tedesca-rheinmetall/ on Tue, 14 Jun 2022 07:02:39 +0000.