# Rheinmetall plans F-35 fuselage factory in Weeze, Germany

Rheinmetall plans to build an ultramodern factory in Weeze, Germany, to produce at least 400 F-35A fuselage sections for Germany and other nations, in partnership with Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. Production is expected to start in 2025, employing 400 workers.

- Type: New facility
- Announced: 2023-07-04
- Where: Weeze, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
- Value: $218.0M (200.0M EUR)
- Jobs: 400
- Starts operating: Q1 2025
- Status: announced
- Capacity: at least 400 fuselage sections
- Products: F-35A fuselage sections
- Sectors: [Aerospace Components](https://endata.com/sectors/aerospace-components.md)

## Companies

- [Rheinmetall](https://endata.com/companies/2541.md)
- [Lockheed Martin](https://endata.com/companies/6612.md) (partner)
- [Northrop Grumman](https://endata.com/companies/6849.md) (partner)

## Sources

- [web.archive.org](https://web.archive.org/web/20231011150653/https:/www.rheinmetall.com/en/media/news-watch/news/2023/7/2023-07-04-rheinmetall-f35-fuselage-factory), 2023-07-04: "Rheinmetall plans to build an ultramodern factory for fabricating fuselage sections for the F-35A multirole combat aircraft at Weeze in western Germany."
- [rheinmetall.com](https://www.rheinmetall.com/en/media/news-watch/news/2023/7/2023-07-04-rheinmetall-f35-fuselage-factory), 2023-07-04: "We’re proud that our longstanding partnership with Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin and our decades long relationship with the Bundeswehr is resulting in a genuine transfer of know-how to Germany."
- [marketscreener.com](https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/RHEINMETALL-AG-436527/news/Groundbreaking-ceremony-for-Rheinmetall-fighter-jet-components-factory-44474335/), 2023-08-01: "This is the first time that money from the German government's 100 billion euro special fund has been invested in a new production facility."
- [zeit.de](https://www.zeit.de/news/2023-08/01/kampfjet-bauteile-spatenstich-fuer-rheinmetall-fabrik), 2023-08-01: "Wir schaffen einen neuen Nukleus in der Luft- und Raumfahrttechnologie in Nordrhein-Westfalen."
- [defence-industry.eu](https://defence-industry.eu/rheinmetall-begins-construction-of-a-production-plant-for-f-35-fuselage/), 2023-08-02: "On August 1, in Weeze, Germany, the groundbreaking ceremony was held for a new production plant for the central fuselage sections of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II multi-role combat aircraft."
- [edrmagazine.eu](https://www.edrmagazine.eu/ground-breaking-ceremony-rheinmetall-begins-construction-of-state-of-the-art-f-35-factory-in-weeze-germany), 2023-09-09: "Rheinmetall is investing more than €100 million to build a cutting-edge production facility."

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Data from Endata (https://endata.com/). Announcements are summarized from public sources and may be incomplete; check the linked originals.