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Rheinmetall in the Cold War

Toward the end of the war, air-raids left their mark on the Rheinmetall plants and impaired production considerably. Under the occupation of Allied forces, Rheinmetall-Borsig had to give up its armaments production completely. A total production prohibition temporarily ceased all activities. Many of Rheinmetall-Borsig's factories were completely dismantled by the Allies; it would not be until the 1950s that it was possible to begin normal business activities.

Post-war events hit Rheinmetall-Borsig AG's Unterluess unit particularly hard. During the final days of the war in spring 1945, the buildings of the Unterluess plant and firing range had been largely destroyed; moreover, the place was in the hands of British troops. Company personnel were forced to disclose and surrender technological and engineering trade secrets to the occupiers. The only activities Rheinmetall was allowed to pursue in Unterluess were farming and forestry. Unemployment in the community was rife, since there were no other companies in the area where former Rheinmetall employees could work. At the time, nobody believed that Rheinmetall would ever operate in Unterluess again. Dismantling work ceased in 1950. Moreover, additional parts of the Unterluess plant were handed back, as was the largely undamaged Neuluess facility. Finally, when the Röchling family took up a majority interest in the company and government negotiations for the sale of Unterluess ended, new life gradually returned to the ruins.

In order to resume civilian production, Rheinmetall-Borsig was reorganized and reincorporated in 1951. Borsig AG in Berlin and Rheinmetall AG in Düsseldorf were established as separate subsidiary operating companies of the same group management company, Rheinmetall-Borsig AG, a newly incorporated entity. In 1956 a majority stake in Rheinmetall-Borsig AG was acquired by the Röchling Group; Borsig AG sold to Salzgitter AG. Resumption of defence equipment production at Rheinmetall Düsseldorf; the first product, the MG 42. In 1964 there was a resumption of cannon tube and mount manufacture; the Company re-acquired its core capabilities in its very own field of production.

In the summer of 1958, Rheinmetall first began developing tank main armament for the German Bundeswehr. This set a process into motion at Rheinmetall' then development and production centres in Düsseldorf und Unterlüß which the company continues to profit from a half a century later. Today, the Leopard main battle tank is the most advanced and powerful vehicle of its kind. Rheinmetall was involved in developing the tank right from the start, as were Henschel and MaK, two of the companies which now form Rheinmetall Landsysteme. Founded in 1956, the Bundeswehr initially had to make do without a domestic defence industry and without German armoured vehicles. At first, West Germany' new military was equipped with the US-built M47 and M48 Patton tank. But it was not long before voices were heard calling for German troops to be equipped with a German tank.

The military production sector expanded through Rheinmetall Berlin's traditional means of acquisition. In 1970 the company took over a majority share of Nico-Pyrotechnik, which was later transferred to Rheinmetall GmbH. In 1975 Rheinmetall GmbH acquired the munitions manufacturer NWM de Kruithoorn in Hertogenbosch of the Netherlands. By 1979 there were approximately 5,700 employees in the Rheinmetall group, bringing in sales of DM 735.5 million (US$401.3 million), 70 percent of which was in military production and 30 percent in industrial equipment manufacturing.

The first Leopard 2 battle tank was delivered in 1979, along with the 120 mm smooth-bore cannon and the matching ammunition to the German armed forces; this is a technological innovation from Rheinmetall. In the early 1980s, the West German arms firm Rhein- metall shipped the basic components of an entire ammunition production plant to South Africa in violation of the United Nations embargo on arms transfers to that country.