(pressebox) (Düsseldorf, 2016-12-02) Germany’s Rheinmetall and the family-owned enterprise Day & Zimmermann (D&Z) have established a joint venture company. The two firms announced the move at the AUSA show in Washington D.C. in October 2016. Serving as general contractor or subcontractor, the new joint venture will design, develop and manufacture state-of-the-art ammunition for the US market. These include the 25mm ammunition for the F35 Joint Strike Fighter, the US Air Force's latest warplane.

The new joint venture combines the Rheinmetall Group’s expertise in ammunition design and development with D&Z’s outstanding manufacturing capabilities. Trading under the name Rheinmetall, Day & Zimmermann Munitions (RDZM), the company will operate out of Rosslyn, Virginia. Rheinmetall and D&Z each have a 50% stake in the joint venture, whose focus is on medium-calibre and indirect fire solutions.

Founded in 1901, Day & Zimmermann is a family-owned company with a workforce of over 50,000 specializing in construction & engineering, staffing and defence solutions for leading corporations and governments around the world. Operating from more than 150 worldwide locations with 2.7 Billion USD in revenue, Day & Zimmermann is currently ranked as one of the largest private companies in the U.S. by Forbes.

About Rheinmetall AG: Rheinmetall AG of Düsseldorf is an integrated technology group dedicated to the twin imperatives of mobility and security. The Group's Defence arm is one of the world's top suppliers of military weapons and ammunition. Its product spectrum ranges from small arms and medium-calibre automatic cannon for aircraft, infantry fighting vehicles and ships to large-calibre systems for main battle tanks and artillery, right through to high-energy laser effectors. Rheinmetall is known around the globe for its versatile airburst applications and 120mm smoothbore technology, which features in the main armament of Leopard 2 and M1A1 Abrams tanks. Numbering around 10,500, Rheinmetall Defence's global workforce generates annual sales of US$2.8 billion.