Taking responsibility in the dimension air: Rheinmetall at the aerospace trade fair ILA Berlin 2024

The highlights of Rheinmetall’s trade fair presentation in 2024 include:

Air defence system Skyranger 30: Ground-based air defence has become increasingly important for Europe, particularly against the backdrop of the war in the Ukraine. Numerous EU and NATO members, including Germany, have opted for Rheinmetall’s Skyranger 30 mobile air defence solution. The system offers an ideal combination of mobility, protection, flexibility and precision to meet the growing demands of challenging threat scenarios in near surroundings and within closer ranges. At the ILA, Rheinmetall will be showcasing the Skyranger 30 turret on the Boxer 8×8 armoured vehicle with an integrated guided missile. With this combination, the Skyranger 30 is ideally suited to decisively encounter current and future threats.

Laser weapon demonstrator (LWD): A laser weapon system – complementary to tube weapons and guided missiles – is particularly suitable for scaled defence against drones, swarms of drones, attacking speedboats or guided missiles at a close and even closer range. With the appropriate performance, such a system could also be used in future to destroy supersonic guided missiles and rockets as well as mortar and artillery shells. The LWD, which Rheinmetall AG is presenting at the ILA together with its cooperation partner MBDA Deutschland GmbH, was integrated on the German Navy’s frigate 124 “Sachsen” from June 2022 to September 2023. During these trials, the demonstrator performed impressively in more than 100 test firings on board. In future, it shall be further examined at the Weapons and Ammunition Technical Centre (WTD 91) in Meppen with regard to its development potential and risk minimisation.

Airborne reconnaissance system LUNA NG: Operational experience from the war in the Ukraine shows the crucial aspect of real-time reconnaissance in command and control. The LUNA NG (Luftgestützte Unbemannte Nahaufklärungsausstattung: Airborne unmanned close reconnaissance equipment – Next Generation) was developed precisely for this purpose. In 2023, Rheinmetall delivered such a drone on behalf of the German government to Ukraine for its defence campaign. It is one of the latest systems for unmanned airborne reconnaissance, classification and detection of objects. Thanks to its aerodynamic, ultra-light and highly stable design, the LUNA NG can easily handle twelve-hour missions. Rheinmetall is presenting the drone at the ILA with its expansion stages for engaging targets and the capability for vertical take-off and landing (VTOL). The LUNA NG with glide bomb on display at the ILA is one of several possible configurations.

Loitering munitions: Loitering munition (LM) combines the characteristics of drones and guided missiles. It increases the ability of infantry units to reconnoitre targets over a long distance in a target area. The infantry units can then precisely engage these targets at a distance and in a timely manner, yet at a time of their choosing. Rheinmetall and UVision have agreed to cooperate in order to customise and market the Hero family of loitering munition in Europe. At the ILA, both companies will be showcasing Hero LM systems in various sizes for different missions, including the corresponding launchers.

F-35 fuselage centre section production: The F-35 Lightning II is currently the most modern and powerful fighter aircraft in the world. At its heart is the fuselage centre section, which connects various critical systems, including weapon systems, avionics, hydraulic and electrical systems. Rheinmetall is currently building a state-of-the-art production facility in Weeze on the Lower Rhine area, where at least 400 of these fuselage centre sections are foreseen to be manufactured on behalf of its U.S. partner company Northrop Grumman, starting in mid-2025. Inside its ILA stand, the Duesseldorf-based group will be presenting the industrialisation of high technology for Germany in the form of various models, the F-35 fuselage centre section, the factory and various workstations.

The two-storey Rheinmetall stand at ILA Berlin 2024 is located at Dis G / 006. The renowned trade fair, which only opens its doors every two years, presents cutting-edge technology from all business areas of the international aviation industry. In 2022, it attracted more than 70,000 visitors.