2000-2005

Klaus Eberhardt becomes new Chairman of the Executive Board: "Clear-cut strategy":

Concentration on the core competences of defence technology, automotive technology and electronics; sale of Mauser Waldeck AG and Jagenberg Paper- und packaging technology, acquisition of the defence land systems manufacturers Henschel and KUKA.

Foundation of a joint venture for the production of automotive pistons by Kolbenschmidt Pierburg AG in Shanghai.

For the development of a new infantry fighting vehicle for the German armed forces Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann found the joint venture PSM GmbH, in which each partner holds a 50% stake.

Sale of the Industrial Electronics division and Jagenberg AG.

Concentration of activities on Defence and Automotive.

The first prototype of the new group transport tank (GTK project) "Boxer" is officially presented.

STN Atlas Elektronik GmbH is split up. British Aerospace takes over the Naval Systems division. The Land Systems, Airborne Systems and Simulation Systems are continued under the name Rheinmetall Defence Electronics.

Pierburg is the first manufacturer worldwide to launch an electric divert-air valve on the market.

Röchling Industrieverwaltung GmbH sells its majority stake in Rheinmetall AG in a private placement. Röchling's shares are taken over by around 75 institutional investors.

Rheinmetall Defence establishes a new Homeland Security division in response to the changed threat situation. The business unit offers solutions for countering threats to internal security and civil defence.

The Pierburg site of Pierburg s.r.o. in Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic, is inaugurated after eight months of construction.