HENSOLDT ships first TRS-4D LR radar
HENSOLDT has delivered the first TRS-4D LR wide-area radar to the Naval Technical School in Parow for testing and training ahead of the Sachsen-class F124 upgrade.
The 2021 programme provides three ship sets plus the shore unit and via IAI ELTA introduces Germany’s first BMD-capable radars; a near-identical setup will equip the Luftwaffe’s HADR NF, with T/R modules built in Germany.
DEUTZ acquires SOBEK, enters defence & electric drives
DEUTZ AG has bought Baden-Württemberg based SOBEK (70 staff), a maker of high-precision electric motors and controls for drone propulsion, marking DEUTZ’s formal move into the defence market and all-electric propulsion.
SOBEK is profitable with double-digit margins, expects low–mid tens of millions in 2025 sales, and was acquired for a low-€100m price range, CEO Sebastian Schulte said.
The deal advances DEUTZ’s 2022 strategy to diversify beyond combustion engines and tap the growing unmanned systems market.
Diehl unveils Sky Sphere modular counter-drone system
Diehl Defence is developing Sky Sphere, a self-funded, vehicle-mountable C-UAS that fuses radar, EO and acoustic sensors including customer kits via AI and an IRIS-T-derived fire-control layer.
Effectors include RF/HPM jamming, weapon stations, and CICADA, a drone-on-drone interceptor with fragmentation (swarm defeat) or net-and-parachute (safe capture) warheads, guided by datalink and a radar seeker.
The system targets a 50 km envelope, with a full demo in late 2025, industrialisation in 2026, and CICADA production: net in 2027, fragmentation in 2028.
hema electronic ramps FPGA vision for armour & subs
Germany’s hema electronic is scaling embedded-vision electronics for tanks, submarines, and ISR systems, boosting capacity to 24k boards/year at its Aalen plant. The firm combines FPGA ultra-low-latency processing, in-house manufacture, 100% testing, and 30+ year obsolescence management.
Over 150k assemblies are fielded across 100+ projects, including driver vision, optronics, and video distribution on European MBTs, submarine periscope/masts, and border surveillance.
A modular, NGVA-ready platform and fast-lane parallel HW/SW development support small batches (1–1,000) and rapid prototypes; new designs blend FPGAs + GPUs for AI-assisted autonomy.
Neosat wins RüNet 2025 Innovation Award
UniBw Munich spin-off Neosat won the Innovation Award at RüNet 2025 in Koblenz, recognised by CPM Verlag GmbH for compact, secure satellite-communications tech, including a software-defined radio for LEO missions.
Managing director Kai-Uwe Storek called the award a strong signal we’re on the right track.
Neosat aims to fast-track research into deployable products for military and civilian users through partnerships with industry and academia.
Germany’s defence industry turbocharges under Zeitenwende
- State shift: Post-2022, Berlin funds big, buys faster, standardises architectures, secures supply chains, and plans multi-year capability ramps.
- Prime mover: Rheinmetall pivots to multi-domain integration (powders, micro-electronics, robotics, aerospace) and localises output for Europe/Ukraine.
- Mittelstand core: Specialist SMEs scale ammo, optics, drivetrains, sensors, software anchoring jobs and incremental upgrades across the Länder.
- New tech surge: Startups in AI, drones, space/micro-launchers drive collaborative combat, ISR, and predictive maintenance shifting power to system-of-systems.
- Headwinds: Input inflation, skilled-labour gaps, explosives/micro-electronics bottlenecks, certification delays, export controls.
- Europe angle: If coordinated (clear roles, IP, exports, interoperability), German momentum can scale the EDTIB and turn announcements into delivered capability.