Rheinmetall Telford Gun Hall Opens, Returning Tank and Artillery Barrel Production to the UK

Rheinmetall has officially opened a new gun hall in Telford, Shropshire, bringing large-calibre weapon manufacturing back to British soil, the UK Ministry of Defence said on its official X account on 22 October 2026. The facility will build barrels and breeches for 120mm tank guns and 155mm artillery, and the ministry said it supports 100 highly skilled jobs.

What the Telford gun hall will build

According to Rheinmetall, the 11,500-square-metre plant is designed to produce up to 245 barrels a year across the two calibres, along with more than 50 breeches annually at peak output. The work supports the Challenger 3 main battle tank programme and future artillery platforms, and industry reporting links the 155mm line to the RCH 155 wheeled howitzer that the British Army has selected.

Breech and breech-block manufacturing began in May 2026, followed by barrel production in June. The company said the first UK-made breeches, breech blocks and barrels have already been completed on schedule.

Reindustrialisation after a 20-year gap

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting described the project as rapid reindustrialisation, noting that the site went from an empty building to full production in eight months and that large-calibre weapons are being made in the UK for the first time in about two decades. Rheinmetall chief executive Armin Papperger called the opening a milestone that would strengthen the British defence industrial base for decades.

Around 35 people currently work in the gun hall, out of roughly 685 Rheinmetall employees in Telford. The company expects the workforce to pass 100 as output grows. British staff were trained at Rheinmetall’s Unterlüß plant in Germany.

Supply chain and UK-German cooperation

Rheinmetall plans to introduce British steel from Sheffield Forgemasters into production and to build a domestic supply chain with UK small and medium-sized firms. The company presents the investment as an example of the UK-German Trinity House Agreement signed in October 2024, which aims to deepen defence-industrial cooperation between the two countries.

Why it matters

Barrels are a wear item that limits how long tanks and howitzers can keep firing, and Western stocks came under pressure during the war in Ukraine. A sovereign source of 120mm and 155mm barrels gives the British Army more control over sustaining Challenger 3 and its new artillery fleet, alongside Rheinmetall’s wider UK work on the Boxer armoured vehicle.

Featured image: Ministry of Defence / OGL v1.0, via Wikimedia Commons