Rheinmetall, Hessen Sign €285M Deal to Build 'Defence Hub Nordhessen' at Kassel
Rheinmetall and the German state of Hessen have signed a letter of intent to develop a "Defence Hub Nordhessen", making Kassel the country's central hub for armoured vehicle production. Rheinmetall will invest around €260 million in its Kassel plant and at Kassel Airport, with Hessen contributing a further €25 million.
The agreement was announced at a press conference at Kassel Airport on 27 August by Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger, Hessen's minister-president Boris Rhein (CDU) and economics minister Kaweh Mansoori (SPD).
The plans cover three areas: expansion of the Rheinmetall plant in Kassel, a logistics and training centre at the airport, and a drone test centre. More than 1,000 new jobs are expected in Kassel and Calden, around 130 of them at the airport itself.
From 2029, Kassel is to become the centre of Boxer production, with more than 500 armoured wheeled vehicles built there per year — up from the roughly 120 vehicles the plant currently produces and maintains annually, including the Panzerhaubitze, the Büffel armoured recovery vehicle and the Kodiak combat engineer vehicle. The site employs about 1,800 people and is one of Rheinmetall's two largest vehicle production facilities.
The expansion is tied to the Bundeswehr's Arminius initiative, which envisages the procurement of around 1,850 Boxer vehicles in various configurations over the next decade.
Hessen said the hub is also a clear commitment to Kassel Airport, which is to be developed as a military logistics node for Bundeswehr training flights and the testing of drone technology.
Sources
- Kassel Airport als "militärische Drehscheibe": Rheinmetall investiert hunderte Millionen — hessenschau.de (hr) — 27 August 2026
- Rheinmetall investiert gut 260 Millionen Euro in Nordhessen — FAZ (dpa) — 27 August 2026
- Rheinmetall will in Kassel mehr als 500 Boxer pro Jahr fertigen — hartpunkt — November 2025