{"id":16779,"date":"2025-04-07T18:59:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T17:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/?p=16779"},"modified":"2026-03-20T19:54:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T18:54:04","slug":"munizioni-nitrocellulosa-rheinmetall-20250407","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/nitrocellulose-ammunition-rheinmetall-20250407\/","title":{"rendered":"Rheinmetall acquires Hagedorn-NC for artillery propellants"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rheinmetall<\/strong> announced<\/a> the acquisition of the German Hagedorn-NC<\/strong>, a company specialising in the production of nitrocellulose for industrial use<\/strong>. The operation aims to strengthen the supply chain of strategic raw materials<\/strong> for the production of artillery propellants<\/strong>in a European context marked by a strong increase in demand for ammunition<\/strong> and explosives<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La nitrocellulose<\/strong> is an essential component for the realisation of modular charges<\/strong>which allow projectiles to be launched from 155 mm<\/strong> to distances greater than 40 kilometres<\/strong>. With the war in Ukraine<\/strong> still ongoing, the demand for heavy ammunition has increased dramatically, prompting governments and companies to investing in production capacity<\/strong> and security of supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the statement, Rheinmetall<\/strong> intends to convert the production of Hagedorn-NC<\/strong> at military-grade nitrocellulose<\/strong> in the coming months, while also temporarily maintaining civil supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

'The acquisition allows us to overcome a strategic bottleneck in the propellant production chain'<\/strong>, stated Armin Papperger<\/strong>CEO of Rheinmetall.
'We secure an essential source of raw materials and continue vertical integration along the entire ammunition supply chain'<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

L'European Union<\/strong> estimate to achieve a annual production of 2 million artillery shells by 2025<\/strong>compared to just 230,000 strokes<\/strong> 2023. The impetus also comes from joint initiatives between industry and institutions to increase the European defence resilience<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rheinmetall<\/strong>one of Europe's leading manufacturers of large-calibre ammunition<\/strong>, aims to reach a production capacity of up to 1.1 million 155 mm bullets per year<\/strong>. With the integration of Hagedorn-NC<\/strong>the company will have a fourth nitrocellulose production site<\/strong>alongside those already operating in Switzerland (Wimmis)<\/strong>, Spain (Murcia)<\/strong> e South Africa (Wellington)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The acquisition comes at a time when the whole of Europe is taking action to fill the production gaps<\/strong> in the defence sector. In France, for example, production of explosive powder<\/strong> at Eurenco in Bergerac<\/strong>while the Denmark<\/strong> entrusted the Norwegian Nammo<\/strong> the restart of a closed munitions factory in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also the Poland<\/strong> invested heavily in the sector, allocating around 3 billion zloty ($760 million)<\/strong> to the local production of ammunition, in particular bullets for 155 mm<\/strong>. An agreement with Grupa Azoty<\/strong> e Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa<\/strong> provides for the construction of new facilities for nitrocellulose<\/strong> e propellants<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The acquisition of Hagedorn-NC<\/strong> by Rheinmetall is part of a context of increasing vertical integration<\/strong> in the sector. In parallel, the Czech group Czechoslovak Group (CSG)<\/strong> noted<\/a> the nitrocellulose activity of the International Flavours & Fragrances<\/strong> a Walsrode, Germany<\/strong>with the intention of expanding military production beyond industrial production, already destined for paints and varnishes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La nitrocellulose<\/strong> is produced through the cellulose nitrification<\/strong>derived from cotton linters<\/strong> o wood pulp<\/strong>. From 2022<\/strong>, l'EU banned from exporting nitrocellulose to Russia<\/strong>extending the blockade to the cotton pulp<\/strong> in June 2023, to prevent critical components from falling into hostile hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The acquisition of Hagedorn-NC<\/strong> is currently subject to antitrust approval<\/strong>but Rheinmetall<\/strong> confirmed that the operation will strengthen its role as a key supplier of NATO ammunition<\/strong>guaranteeing a autonomous and secure supply chain<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company did not provide financial details on the transaction, nor did it specify the future production capacity of the acquired site<\/strong>. However, according to initial information, the integration will lead to the entry of about 90 new employees<\/strong> in the Rheinmetall group, while the Walsrode<\/strong> managed by CSG<\/strong> already takes more than 350 people<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In conclusion, the growing demand for artillery ammunition<\/strong>the strengthening of European defence policies<\/strong> and the need for industrial autonomy<\/strong> are reshaping the European defence production landscape. Operations such as that of Rheinmetall<\/strong> at Hagedorn-NC<\/strong> confirm that the future of the European security<\/strong> will also come from the ability to control every link in the chain, from the material<\/strong> at projectile finished<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

\n

\n Source:<\/strong>\n www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2025\/04\/07\/rheinmetall-secures-nitrocellulose-supply-amid-european-ammo-scramble<\/a>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brigata Marina San Marco nel cuore del Grande Nord<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16783,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[243],"tags":[813,810,811,812],"sgg_keywords":[],"class_list":["post-16779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internazionali","tag-hagedorn-nc","tag-munizioni","tag-nitrocellulosa","tag-rheinmetall"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16779"},{"taxonomy":"sgg_keywords","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sgg_keywords?post=16779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}