Safran and Diehl have partnered to jointly develop a new family of light modular air-to-ground munitions deployable from all existing platforms.
Announced in Paris, the collaboration aims to manufacture a product line consisting of loitering munitions, off-board effectors, and other tactical air-to-ground solutions based on the consortium’s combined weapons technologies.
Each resulting capability will have a standardized interface to allow rapid integration with various tactical equipment and retrofits.
Meanwhile, corresponding payloads will be designed to minimize collateral damage during missions against fixed and mobile threats in both complex and urban settings.
Additionally, most of the munitions’ targeting features will be based on optronic devices supported by inertial navigation and AI processing for high-precision engagements.
Throughout the initiative, the modular and scalable weapons are expected to “significantly enhance the companies’ portfolios while minimizing investment.”
Supporting European Defense Strategy
According to the firms, this Franco-German partnership aligns with Europe’s broader plan to improve the region’s industrial base and “set new standards in precision, efficiency and safety” for partner nations.
The teaming supports a treaty signed by Paris and Berlin in 2019 to reinforce their bilateral defense cooperation and promote sovereign capacity within the framework of NATO and the EU.
“This partnership perfectly showcases the ability of European defense industries to collaborate in developing tomorrow’s solutions,” said Alexandre Ziegler, head of Defense Global Business Unit at Safran Electronics and Defense.
“By combining the complementary expertise of Diehl Defence and Safran, we are strengthening Europe’s strategic autonomy and providing our armed forces with modular, high-performance solutions. Above all, this joint initiative allows us to meet the evolving needs of armed forces by equipping them with innovative, high-performance solutions for current and future challenges.”
