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Mehler Systems Establishes “Mehler Systems Asia” to Drive Strategic Growth and Operational Excellence in the APAC Region

Sunday, July 5th, 2026

FULDA, GERMANY, 3 July 2026

Mehler Systems, a global leader in ballistic protection and tactical gear solutions, is pleased to announce the establishment of Mehler Systems Asia (MSA). This strategic expansion further strengthens the group’s global market position and reinforces its structural footprint in the highly dynamic and strategically important Asia-Pacific (APAC) growth region.

Accelerating Development Through Regional Integration

By operating in close proximity to leading suppliers and advanced manufacturing networks, Mehler Systems is creating a robust operational foundation designed to significantly accelerate development cycles. The new entity will leverage the deep expertise of highly qualified local professionals to streamline operations, foster regional innovation, and respond to global market demands with unprecedented agility.

“The establishment of Mehler Systems Asia marks a pivotal milestone in our global growth strategy,” said Dr. Mario Amschlinger, CEO of Mehler Systems. “To maintain our position as an industry leader, we must be exactly where our supply chains and future markets intersect. MSA allows us to deepen our relationships with key regional partners, optimize our sourcing structures, and uphold the uncompromising quality standards our customers rely on worldwide.”

A Commitment to Sustainable Sourcing and Uncompromising Compliance

In addition to further expanding its strategic sourcing structures, Mehler Systems Asia will maintain a dedicated focus on the sustainable development and qualification of regional suppliers. The establishment of MSA ensures rigorous compliance and meticulous specification management at a local level. Ultimately, this initiative will further strengthen the company’s established leadership in quality, reliability, and operational excellence across its entire product portfolio.

About Mehler Systems:

Mehler Systems Group is an international and global leader dedicated to exceptional ballistic protection and tactical-gear solutions for law enforcement, the military, and special forces.*

The Mehler Systems Group is home to the brands of Mehler Protection, Lindnerhof, and UF PRO. Mehler Protection is known for its body and platform armour solutions, UF PRO is an expert in top-tier tactical garment systems, while Lindnerhof stands out for its innovative carrying solutions and tactical equipment.

With a presence in over 40 countries, Mehler Systems has established itself as a leader, known for its innovation and dedication to raising the bar in the industry over the past four decades. For more information about Mehler Systems, please visit mehler-systems.com

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Major Order from Ukraine: Rheinmetall to Supply Artillery Ammunition – Contract Value in the High Double-Digit Millions of Euros

Thursday, July 2nd, 2026

Ukraine has commissioned Rheinmetall to supply long range artillery ammunition. The order comprises 155-mm artillery shells and propellant charges in the low five-figure range. The contract value, which will be recognised in the second quarter of 2026, is in the high double-digit millions of euros. Production has already begun, and the contract is due to be completed in the first quarter of 2027.

The ammunition is being manufactured at Rheinmetall Expal Munitions in Spain. The ER02A1 B/B projectiles and the M203 propellant charges are already in use by various NATO countries. They can be fired from a wide range of 155 mm weapon systems and offer a long range and high effectiveness.

Rheinmetall continues to invest heavily in expanding the capacity of existing facilities and establishing new production sites in order to meet the growing demand for modern 155-mm projectiles and propellant charges. Rheinmetall is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of large-calibre ammunition. The Düsseldorf-based technology group has been expanding its production capacity since 2022 and aims to produce around 1.5 million 155 mm artillery shells per year by 2030.

Posted in Ammo, Contracts, International, Press Release | No Comments »

Closing Completed: Rheinmetall Acquires Majority Stake in DOK-ING – Strategic Acquisition in the Field of Unmanned and Autonomous Systems

Wednesday, July 1st, 2026

The Düsseldorf-based technology group Rheinmetall has successfully completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Croatia-based DOK-ING and is thus expanding its portfolio as planned through an acquisition in the field of unmanned vehicles. The company will operate under the name “Rheinmetall Unmanned Vehicles d.o.o.”. In March this year, Rheinmetall signed an agreement in Zagreb to acquire a majority stake in Croatian innovation hub specialized in the field of unmanned vehicles DOK-ING. Rheinmetall is acquiring 51 per cent of the company, while the company’s founder and previous sole owner, Vjekoslav Majeti?, will retain the 49 per cent. The strategic partners agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

Combining Rheinmetall’s expertise in tactical vehicles with DOK-ING’s capabilities in unmanned vehicles creates a strong base of competence with considerable future potential. These joint activities are based on DOK-ING’s newly developed Komodo, a modular heavy-duty hybrid platform with a payload capacity of more than 8.5 tonnes. Rheinmetall is contributing various functional modules and equipment kits, including systems for direct and indirect fire, mine clearing and laying operations, reconnaissance sensors and logistics. By joining forces, the two leading European suppliers aim to realise ambitious projects, set new standards and pave the way for unmanned ground systems to be ready for series production and deployment.

“We can now establish our competence centre in Croatia in the field of unmanned and autonomous vehicles for military purposes. With this new setup, we aim to achieve a strong market position in the segment of unmanned combat and armoured support vehicles. We see growth potential in this future market, and, at the same time, we are establishing a foothold in Croatia, an EU and NATO partner country and a highly attractive customer market”, Dr Björn Bernhard, CEO of Rheinmetall’s Vehicle Systems Europe division, reiterated upon receiving regulatory approval.

DOK-ING holds a strong market position in the field of land based unmanned mine clearance and operations in high-risk environments. Since its foundation, the company has delivered around 500 platforms to customers in over 40 countries. At present, DOK-ING’s mine-clearance solutions are proving to be highly effective in operation, particularly in the Ukraine.

Vjekoslav Majeti?, who founded DOK-ING in 1991, referred to his words when the agreement was signed in March: “This step ensures that DOK-ING’s development, engineering excellence and core competencies will remain in Croatia. By joining forces with Rheinmetall, we can expand our production capacities, accelerate the development of next-generation unmanned specialised systems and strengthen our long-term competitiveness. This will reinforce Croatia’s role within the European defence and technology landscape”.

DOK-ING and Rheinmetall plan to develop a variety of solutions for combat and combat support operations. This includes a project for an unmanned armed support system (known as ‘Wingman’) to be used with battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles for reconnaissance and fire support purposes. These systems will also be used alongside existing Rheinmetall products, such as the Panther KF51 Main Battle Tank, the Büffel/Buffalo recovery tank, and the Kodiak armoured engineer vehicle.

Rheinmetall AG is an integrated technology group, with its headquarters in Düsseldorf. Founded in 1889, it is a leading international systems house for the defence industry and operates within land, air, sea and space domains. A focus on sustainability is an integral part of Rheinmetall’s strategy. With around 44,000 employees at about 180 sites worldwide, the company has been listed on the DAX 40 since March 2023 and generated sales of €9.8 billion in the 2024 financial year.

DOK-ING is a technology-driven company specialised in the development and manufacture of advanced unmanned systems designed for operations in hazardous and high-risk environments. Its core portfolio includes remotely operated and progressively autonomous platforms supporting humanitarian and military demining, military engineering operations, CBRN response, and the protection of critical infrastructure. The company’s solutions are based on modular and scalable architectures, enabling rapid mission-specific configuration for mine clearance, IED disposal, route clearance, firefighting, and other complex operational requirements. With a strong commitment to safety, reliability, and operational excellence, DOK-ING delivers field-proven systems that enhance force protection and reduce human exposure to hazardous situations, serving armed forces, civil protection authorities, and specialised security operators worldwide.

Posted in Industry, International, Press Release, Robotics | No Comments »

Dates Announced for 2027 Canadian National Counter-UAS Conference

Tuesday, June 30th, 2026

Save the date for the 2027 Canadian National Counter-UAS Conference, taking place April 8–9, 2027 in Ottawa, Ontario. Building on the success of this year’s event, which brought together over 200 participants from 83 organizations across Canada and the United States, we are excited to continue fostering the strong national and international collaboration that emerged. With broad representation from policing, intelligence, military, government, critical infrastructure, academia, and industry, the conference has become a key platform for advancing a unified approach to counter-UAS challenges. In advance of the conference, we are pleased to welcome Retired U.S. Army Colonel Bill Edwards, a recognized leader in C-UAS operations and training, who will deliver specialized training sessions on April 6–7.

We look forward to welcoming partners back to further strengthen relationships, share expertise, and drive coordinated strategies to address the evolving threat landscape in 2027.

www.kingstonpolice.ca/news-and-community/2027-canadian-national-cuas-conference

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Rheinmetall Battlesuite – The Digital Foundation for the Reconnaissance and Strike Network

Sunday, June 28th, 2026

Multidomain operations require advanced approaches to effectively coordinate and integrate each domain. As an all-domain system house, Rheinmetall offers platforms, systems, and services on land, in the air, in space, at sea, and in the cyber and information domains.

Furthermore, Rheinmetall acts as a digital systems integrator that orchestrates multidomain operations via a software-defined battlesuite.

With the combination of the FV-014 Loitering Munition System, the Containerized Missile Launcher (CML) being demonstrated for the first time, and the Battlesuite, along with additional sensors, effectors, and platforms, this system integrates reconnaissance, command, and engagement into a single architecture.

Rheinmetall’s reconnaissance and strike network is an innovative solution for maximum transparency in the operational area, minimizes response times, and thus ensures a decisive advantage in protecting friendly forces, from the first signal in space to the impact on the ground. The Rheinmetall Battlesuite serves as the digital foundation of this combat network. It provides the framework for the digitalization of platforms, sensors, and weapons systems and, through open and standardized interfaces, enables the seamless networking of existing and future systems. This allows information to be made available more quickly, reduces integration efforts, and enables the utilization of existing capabilities from different manufacturers within a common command and information environment.

For Rheinmetall, the sensor-effector chain begins in space and orchestrates a nearly seamless situational picture with scalable effectors. This comprehensive situational picture forms the basis for applying rapid command and control processes to any threat quickly and appropriately. Unmanned systems are playing an increasingly important role in this context. The diversity of systems, from satellites and drones to armored vehicles, poses a risk: complexity and fragmentation. If systems are not networked with one another and do not implement coordinated, effective data exchange, the time advantage is quickly lost. This is where the Rheinmetall Battlesuite comes in.

The Battlesuite is not a traditional standalone product, but a revolutionary software architecture concept. It is based on standardized middleware, the Tactical Core, enabling a wide variety of applications and hardware platforms to be securely and interoperably networked and operated.

The Battlesuite is defined by the following three pillars:

• Openness: Moving away from vendor-locked siloed solutions toward non-proprietary standards.

• Interoperability: Seamless communication between partners, military branches, nations, and different hardware generations.

• Future-proofing: New AI-enabled capabilities can be seamlessly integrated into the existing system without requiring the entire infrastructure to be recertified.

Information flows from the orbital sensor through the Tactical Core to the effectors on the ground, at sea, or in the air. In this way, the Battlesuite creates the infrastructural foundation for Software Defined Defense.

In a world where the threat landscape is becoming increasingly unpredictable, Rheinmetall provides the answer: an integrated ecosystem that combines reconnaissance, command, and effect into a single unit.

Posted in C5ISR, International, Press Release | No Comments »

Strengthening NATO’s Eastern Flank: Romania Orders Skyranger 35 Air Defence Systems from Rheinmetall

Saturday, June 27th, 2026

The technology group Rheinmetall has achieved another significant success in the field of ground-based air defence (GbAD) systems. The Romanian government has awarded the company a contract to supply Skyranger 35 air defence systems. This contract is part of a historic major order worth €5.7 billion covering combat vehicles, vessels and air defence systems, and includes not only 24 Skyranger 35 systems, but also seven Skynex systems and two Millennium Guns for maritime air defence solutions. Rheinmetall published a press release on this matter on 2 June 2026.

The Skyranger system will be integrated onto the proven Lynx KF41 tracked platform. The contract highlights Rheinmetall’s role as a leading system provider for mobile air defence solutions in Europe.

This major contract further strengthens the long-standing and trusting customer relationship between Romania and Rheinmetall. The country is therefore continuing to invest in the modernisation of its armed forces and in future-oriented technologies in order to protect its own territory and strengthen NATO’s eastern flank. The Skyranger 35’s enormous firepower and sensor capabilities, combined with the mobility and protection offered by the Lynx infantry fighting vehicle, provide an excellent response to modern threat scenarios. Recent geopolitical developments, including the incident involving an unmanned drone in Romanian airspace, have highlighted the urgent need for a thorough and highly mobile very short-range air defence (VSHORAD) system.

Oliver Dürr, Head of Rheinmetall’s Air Defence Division, emphasises the project’s strategic importance: “Romania’s decision to choose the Skyranger 35 on the Lynx platform is a significant milestone for European air defence. We are proud to continue our decades-long partnership with the Romanian government and provide the country with direct support in this critical security situation. The recent drone incident has shown how quickly airborne threats can become a reality. The Skyranger 35 provides Romania with a highly efficient and flexible solution for protecting soldiers reliably as well as critical infrastructure against modern threats at short and very short range”.

With this order, Rheinmetall sends a clear message in favour of standardisation and interoperability among NATO allies.

About Skyranger 35

The Skyranger 35 is specifically designed to effectively engage loitering munitions, swarm drones and conventional aerial threats in the immediate vicinity. It is equipped with a high-precision 35 mm revolver cannon and can use programmable AHEAD airburst munition. The integrated system combines state-of-the-art radar sensors and electro-optical tracking systems with the proven 35 mm anti-aircraft gun within a single protected vehicle. This enables the Romanian Army to conduct airspace surveillance and engage targets autonomously while on the move.

Posted in Contracts, International, Press Release, weapons | No Comments »

Nokia to Provide Intelligent Connectivity for Finnish Border Guard Counter-Drone Initiative Nationwide

Friday, June 26th, 2026

· Nokia Defense joins Finnish-Nordic consortium to strengthen counter-UAS border security

· Secure, scalable connectivity enables real-time threat detection and interoperable mission-critical operations across land and sea

Espoo, Finland, June 25, 2026 – Nokia today announced its participation in a new industrial consortium led by the Finnish Border Guard to develop the next-generation counter-drone capabilities for patrol vehicles and boats. Nokia’s Defense unit will help support border security duties, surveillance, protection of territorial integrity and the safeguarding of critical infrastructure by providing an intelligent network solution that enables secure, high-performance connectivity, real-time data exchange and interoperability across systems.

The initiative supports the Finnish Border Guard’s goal of building a sovereign, integrated counter-unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and threat detection capability to be deployed nationwide. By connecting platforms, sensors and command-and-control systems, the solution is designed to deliver enhanced real-time situational awareness and enable faster, more coordinated responses to evolving multi-domain threats.

Nokia’s role reflects the growing importance of trusted and intelligent connectivity as a foundation for modern defense and border security. As drones become more accessible and widely used, threat detection, sensing and connectivity must work seamlessly to protect personnel, infrastructure and mission effectiveness. Through the consortium, Nokia Defense will work with key partners to support a scalable, future-ready system aligned with national and allied requirements.

Mikko Hautala, Chief Geopolitical & Government Relations Officer, and Chairman, Nokia Defense, said: “Reliable, secure connectivity is becoming essential to how defense organizations detect, understand and respond to fast-moving threats. By contributing Nokia’s intelligent connectivity and sensing technology to this consortium, we are helping build an operational and interoperable solution that gives border authorities the real-time awareness and resilience they need in complex land and maritime environments.”

The Finnish Border Guard initiative includes the procurement and deployment of evaluation platforms, connectivity and sensing capabilities, and system integration. The solutions will be evaluated during 2027 and early 2028.

Posted in C-UAS, International, Press Release | No Comments »

Mehler Protection at Eurosatory 2026: From Armoured Mobility to Counter-UAS

Thursday, June 25th, 2026

KÖNIGSLUTTER, FULDA, GERMANY (24 June 2026)

From protected mobility and Counter-UAS technologies to modular body armour systems, Mehler Protection presented a comprehensive portfolio of protection solutions at Eurosatory 2026.

Exhibiting at Hall 5B, Stand C220, the company welcomed military, law enforcement, and industry representatives from around the world, highlighting developments designed to address evolving operational requirements across both vehicle and personal protection domains.

Among the highlights was the first public presentation of the M-RACC KE protected mobility concept, an armoured tractor developed in cooperation with STEYR. Based on the STEYR Terrus CVT platform, the vehicle combines multifunctional work and transport capabilities with certified ballistic, fragmentation, and mine protection in accordance with STANAG 4569 and AEP-55 requirements. Designed for demanding operational environments, it supports tasks such as engineering operations, route clearance, infrastructure repair, logistics, and the restoration of damaged areas where ballistic threats, unexploded ordnance, fragmentation hazards, or mines may still be present.

The exhibition also featured SCILT, Mehler Protection’s close-range Counter-UAS system designed to protect vehicles against FPV drones, loitering munitions, and other aerial threats approaching from short distances and low angles. Developed as a dedicated last layer of vehicle protection, SCILT addresses a growing capability gap between conventional air-defence systems and passive armour solutions.

Alongside its platform protection portfolio, Mehler Protection showcased a comprehensive range of personal protection solutions for military and law enforcement applications.

Among the key exhibits was the latest generation of the ExoM Exoskeleton, a passive load-bearing system designed to reduce operator burden while maintaining mobility under heavy loads. Visitors also explored the full M.U.S.T. configuration, demonstrating how the modular protection system can be adapted and scaled according to mission requirements.

Additional exhibits included the MOBAST protective vest system developed for the German Armed Forces, covert and overt body armour systems, waistcoats, plate carriers, soft- and hard-ballistic protection solutions, ballistic helmets, and shields.

Learn more about Mehler Protection at mehler-protection.com.

Posted in Advertiser, Armoured Vehicles, C-UAS, International, Press Release | No Comments »