German, US defence giants join forces to produce military drones, air systems for European market

The German defence conglomerate Rheinmetall has signed a strategic partnership agreement with the American defence company Anduril Industries. Under this partnership, the two are seeking to jointly produce drones and explore the possibility of creating solid-fuel rocket engines for the European market.

This was stated in a press release by the German defence conglomerate published on June 18, Caliber.Az reports.

"Rheinmetall and Anduril Industries announced a strategic partnership to co-develop and deliver a suite of software-defined autonomous systems to extend the availability of autonomous mission systems", the press statement reads.

According to the release, their partnership is starting with the development of three proven capabilities, namely the integration of a European variant of Anduril´s Barracuda, the inclusion of a European variant of Anduril´s Fury and the exploration of opportunities for solid rocket motors for European use. However, as Rheinmetall states in their press release, the joint effort is about to be extended with more next-generation technologies over time.

According to the release, suppliers and other companies “from across Europe” are expected to be involved in the production process, and the products will be aimed at the European market.

“Rheinmetall has always stood for reliability, scale, and strategic depth in defence manufacturing,” said Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall. “By integrating Anduril`s solutions into Rheinmetall´s European production set up and digital sovereignty framework, we’re building on that foundation to bring new kinds of autonomous capabilities into service, ones that are quick to produce, modular, and aligned with NATO’s evolving requirements.”

By Nazrin Sadigova