UK resumes large-caliber weapons production after 20-year gap

By Aysu Bicer

LONDON (AA) - The UK resumed domestic production of large-caliber weapons on Thursday for the first time in two decades, with Rheinmetall UK beginning manufacturing at its Telford gun hall and strengthening the country’s defense industrial base.

The facility, opened by Defense Secretary Wes Streeting, Chief of the General Staff Gen. Sir Roly Walker, and Rheinmetall AG CEO Armin Papperger, manufactures gun barrels for tanks and breeches for 120mm and 155mm weapon systems, including the RCH 155 and future artillery platforms.

The gun hall supports 100 highly skilled jobs, with the workforce expected to expand as production increases. The project also seeks to strengthen domestic supply chains through long-term partnerships with British small and medium-sized enterprises.

“Britain is back in the business of making the weapons that our Armed Forces need to defend the nation against our adversaries,” Streeting said in a statement. “From an empty site to full production in eight months, this is rapid reindustrialisation in action.”

Rheinmetall UK took over the facility in Autumn 2025 and brought it into full production within eight months, restoring a sovereign manufacturing capability for the British Armed Forces.

Streeting said the project demonstrated how defense investment could drive economic growth.

“One hundred skilled jobs in world-class manufacturing and the return of large-calibre weapon production to UK soil for the first time in twenty years – this is what defense as an engine for growth looks like,” he said.

The development is expected to support the long-term expansion of Britain’s domestic defense manufacturing capabilities and regional economic growth.

Aysu Biçer