Eurometaal

Eurometaal is one of the leading ammunition producing companies of the Netherlands.[1] Its headquarters are in Zaandam.[2]

History

Originally, Eurometaal is an industrial military complex that set up camp in Zaandam around 1900, and adopted the name Eurometaal in 1973.[3] Eurometaal has developed weaponry for the Royal Netherlands Army from NR20 C1 hand grenades to tanks.[4]

In the nineties, an employee of the hand grenade factory in Liebenau revealed that their grenades were used in the Kurdish-Turkish conflict, which created a PR nightmare and led to the shutdown of the factory in Germany in 1993. The arms created in Germany had transited through the Netherlands before being delivered to Turkey, amid a German ban on arm trades with Turkey.[5]

Eurometaal was a producer M864 and M483A1 projectiles. It also had the licence to produce American DPICMs that it was producing both in Zaandam (since 1989) and in Turkey through a partnership with MKEK (since 1994). This production stopped in 2002.[6] Following the European defense conversion program, Eurometaal successfully diversified its activities to gear to civilians, by laying off hundreds of employees and acquiring existing civil companies.[1]

In 1999, Rheinmetall increased its stake in Eurometaal to 66%. In 2002, Rheinmetall sold Eurometaal's subsidiary Intergas (manufacturer of furnaces and boilers) and closed Eurometaal altogether.[7]

References
  1. Gummett, Philip; Stein, Josephine Anne (1997). European defence technology in transition. Harwood Academic Publishers. p. 187. ISBN 978-90-5702-149-7. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  2. Top 500, Top500.de
  3. Klinkert, Wim (2013). Defending Neutrality: The Netherlands prepares for War, 1900-1925. BRILL. p. 336. ISBN 9789004252509. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  4. "Eurometaal Nr20 Anti-Personnel Fragmentation Hand Grenade (1990)". Militaryfactory.com. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  5. Alex van Veen (19 September 1997). "Eurometaal De Lucht In". Ravagedigital.org (in Dutch). Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  6. Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice. Monitor. 2009. p. 288. ISBN 9780973895544. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  7. "Chronicle 1999-2010". Rheinmetall-defence.com. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
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