Rheinmetall was founded in 1889 as "Rheinische Metallwaaren- und Maschinenbaufabrik Aktiengesellschaft". Today, as an integrated technology group, Rheinmetall AG, which is listed on the stock exchange, stands for a solid company that operates successfully internationally and is active in various markets with an innovative range of products and services With about 25,000 employees at 133 locations and production sites worldwide, Rheinmetall generated sales of €5.7 billion in 2021.

Rheinmetall has specialized in developing and producing high-quality components and innovative systems for protecting people, vehicles, aircraft, ships and installations. Rheinmetall has been systematically expanding its technological portfolio, partly by acquiring new companies. In 2019 Rheinmetall acquired company IBD Engineering and merged it together with its 4 entities Rheinmetall Active Protection GmbH, Rheinmetall Chempro GmbH and Rheinmetall Ballistic Protection GmbH into the new Rheinmetall Protection Systems GmbH (RPS).

RPS has a unique overall protection portfolio, comprising products and services for light-, medium- and heavy-duty protection. RPS develops state-of-the art protection solutions, which combine active soft-kill and hard-kill technologies with passive protection systems. RRPS thus has a unique overall protection portfolio and can offer 360-degree protection as a “one-stop-shop”. With its new hybrid protection RPS goes beyond classic systems.

RPS is an independent protection systems provider with a worldwide customer base and subsidiaries in Germany, Australia, Canada, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Algeria and UAE. This global presence allows close customer proximity, local added value and tight local cooperation. RPS's worldwide customers include national ministries and authorities as well as OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers/platform producers) of land vehicles, aircraft, and ships.