The Germany company, Rheinmetall announced on 29 October that it was awarded a contract to produce and deliver 40mm practice ammunition for the U.S. Marine Corps.
In a statement, Rheinmetall confirmed that the United States Marine Corps contracted the company to produce and deliver 40mm practice ammunition at cost of $59 million.
The ammunition, specifically the 40mm x 53 MK281 MOD3 High Velocity Practice Day/Night Marking Cartridge, will be produced in Camden, Arkansas and shipped from American Rheinmetall Munitions (ARM), a the company’s subsidiary based in Stafford, Virginia.
Production will begin no later than the third quarter of 2019 and annual delivery volume is anticipated to be as high as 700,000 cartridges.
Rheinmetall’s MK281 is a non-dud producing, non-toxic training cartridge fired from an MK19 machine gun. The cartridges use unique target marking technologies that allow both day and night training.
The MK281 design lessens customer costs by eliminating unexploded ordnance and range fires. Besides, it allows military users to practice fire-and-maneuver operations in a safe, dud-free environment.
