During a Welcome Day at the Medias site, the new Romanian vehicle manufacturer Rheinmetall Automecanica SRL presented itself to the workforce and representatives from politics, business, the armed forces and the media. The Romanian Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Stefan-Radu Oprea, also took part in the event.

Rheinmetall, a leading manufacturer of military vehicles in Europe, recently completed the investment announced in February 2024 as the majority shareholder in two companies of the Romanian vehicle manufacturer Automecanica Media. The acquisition became effective on 1 May 2024 once the relevant official approvals had been obtained. The new company, of which the Duesseldorf-based group now holds 72.5% of the shares via Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH, will now operate under the name Rheinmetall Automecanica SRL.

With Rheinmetall Automecanica SRL, Rheinmetall is furthermore expanding its global vehicle production network, which already has locations in Canada, the USA, Australia, the UK, Austria, the Netherlands, the Ukraine and Germany. This will also significantly increase the production and maintenance capacities. Rheinmetall is hence continuing to strengthen its strategic presence in Central Europe and is tapping into considerable sales growth and new, promising customer countries in the region. Rheinmetall is now also present in Hungary and Lithuania with locations in the eastern NATO alliance area.

Dr Bjoern Bernhard, Managing Director of Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH: “Rheinmetall Automecanica SRL will contribute to further strengthening the defence capabilities of the EU and NATO on the eastern flank. We are ready to support the Romanian customer in future programmes – be it in the vehicle sector or with other technologies from our company. We look forward to involving local partners and strengthening the domestic economy in Romania.”

Dr Nick Stirban, Managing Director of Rheinmetall Automecanica SRL, adds: “This is a historic day that not only bolsters Automecanica as Rheinmetall Automecanica SRL, but also strengthens Romania and proves that it can have a powerful and profitable defence industry.”

Rheinmetall believes that the new acquisition has an annual sales potential of up to €300m in the mid-term and expects incoming orders in the triple-digit million Euro range as early as within the 2024 financial year.

The Medias site, centrally located in the Romanian region of Transylvania, guarantees the armed forces on NATO’s eastern flank shorter response times and larger security in the supply chain. In addition to the repair of logistical vehicles, undercarriages for the Romanian armed forces’ anti-aircraft weapons shall also be serviced here in future.

At the same time, Rheinmetall is expanding its product portfolio in military vehicle construction with this step. Truck bodies, trailers and other special vehicles developed and produced by Automecanica complete the range of logistical trucks with which Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) is successful in global markets.

Automecanica Medias has already been an efficient partner of the Romanian armed forces.

Rheinmetall’s cooperation with Automecanica was established in 2022, when both partners agreed to operate a maintenance centre for military vehicles in Satu Mare.

BCB International Ltd reflected their ongoing commitment to the United States defence and security markets by supporting partners’ at Modern Day Marine (MDM) and Special Operations Forces (SOF) Tampa 2024. The Modern-Day Marine event featured 300 exhibitors, 350 companies, Interactive displays and a wargaming convention. Modern Marine consisted of briefings from the commandant of the Marine Corps,and influential leaders from the Department of Defense.

BCB exhibited through partners at both shows featuring their new and dynamic Larva Cloak, Alternate Illuminated Marker, Multi-Spectral camouflage, Dragon Fuel, IR filter Camo Cream, and combat medic First Aid Kits. They gathered significant interest on all items but more especially in their Multi-Spectral Camouflage (MSC) from several companies and US armed forces.

Significant interest from overseas delegations was received in their multi-spectral camouflage for counter-drug operations in the jungles of South America where detection by drones is so important.

BCB are in a prime position with their multi-spectralcamouflage products for Military operations. In the Retail sector, some of BCB products are creating significant interest in their applications in the Retail market for America, specifically the BCB eco field cooking system, FireDragon, which is great for cooking rations and givesone hot coffee and melting snow all in under 6 minutes, without the smell, weight burden or hazards of the flameless systems.

During the trip, BCB met with multiple members of the Department for Business and Trade team, British Embassy and Welsh consulate including the Welsh Deputy Head of North America.

At SOF Week 2024 the United Kingdom had a significant show space booked out to feature multiple British businesses. BCB had good discussions on exports opportunities for the United Sates and their strategy to expand their footprint in America.

It is clear from both exhibitions that there is significant interest in BCB’s capabilities and it is hoped that this will lead to further business in the important United States market.