Diehl Defence and Safran to Co-Develop New Family of Strike Drones

Germany’s Diehl Defence and French defense group Safran have agreed to jointly develop a new family of strike drones, Hartpunkt reported.

The agreement was signed at the Paris Air Show, currently underway in France.

Within the deal, the companies will co-develop a modular family of lightweight air-to-ground munitions designed to equip a wide range of platforms.

The product line will include loitering munitions and other tactical strike weapons, with standardized interfaces to simplify integration with various systems, including legacy platforms.

The companies stated that the new generation of lightweight modular weapons will significantly expand their product portfolios while minimizing investment requirements.

“The weapon will feature shortened development cycles and optimized performance, drawing on the combined expertise and advanced manufacturing capabilities of Diehl Defence and Safran Electronics & Defense,” Diehl Defence shared.

The drones will carry precision-guided munitions designed to minimize collateral damage against stationary or moving targets in complex or urban environments.

The companies pointed out that advanced electro-optical sensors, inertial navigation systems (INS), and onboard data processing supported by artificial intelligence will enable target acquisition.