Vienna, 20 June 2024 – The Schiebel Group is strengthening its European footprint by establishing Schiebel Aéronaval SAS in Toulon, France.

The CAMCOPTER® S-100 has been in service with the French Ministry of Armed Forces since 2012. In order to more closely support this successful partnership and meet the operational requirements of the Armed Forces in case of major engagements, Schiebel has established a company in France, situated close to its customer, in Toulon. The new Schiebel entity will provide localised support for the French Navy’s fleet of S-100 within the framework of a 5-year contract DMAé (Direction de la Maintenance Aéronautique) awarded to Schiebel at the end of 2023.

Schiebel Aéronaval SAS will house a production and repair facility to conduct the assembly and maintenance of the S-100 systems for the French Navy and other customers. The new Schiebel company will also have a training department to train operators and maintenance technicians.

Furthermore and significantly, the entity is intended to become the main European production and payload integration site for the evolving CAMCOPTER® S-300.

Schiebel Aéronaval SAS embeds itself into the French Aerospace industrial network, works closely with other local French companies and is expected to generate many employment opportunities in the Toulon area.

“We are extremely proud to count France, renowned for its emphasis on strategic autonomy, among the CAMCOPTER® S-100 users. Opening a facility in Toulon not only enables us to serve the French Navy better, but also to be closer to our French industrial partners and benefit from the advantages of the region, including direct access to the sea. We are more than excited about the new opportunities this important step will bring“, said Lubos Sramek, CEO of Schiebel Aéronaval SAS.

Paris, 19 June 2024 – The Düsseldorf-based technology group Rheinmetall and the US company Anduril Industries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during Eurosatory in Paris, one of the world’s leading trade shows for defence and security. Under this collaboration, Rheinmetall and Anduril will work together to design, develop, and produce new layered Counter small Unmanned Aerial System (C-sUAS) air defense systems. The scope of this collaboration is primarily to address European markets first.

These C-sUAS systems will combine Rheinmetall’s command and control system, Skymaster, and high-power guns with Lattice and open, modular and scalable hardware components including Anduril’s Sentry Tower, Wisp sensors and Anvil, its autonomous interceptor. By combining the unique capabilities of both companies, an unmatched layered solution for C-sUAS will be offered. Overall, the MoU aims to bring together the complementary skills of these two leading companies.

Oliver Dürr, CEO of Rheinmetall Air Defence AG: “This cooperation will showcase the most innovative C-sUAS system – combining the strength of Rheinmetall military capabilities and the edge cutting development speed of Anduril. I am absolutely confident that this combination will address the future needs of our clients and that we shall bring the right solution at the right time on the market.”

Greg Kausner, Anduril’s SVP of Global Defence states: “The pace of warfare is accelerating at the speed of technology development. Global defence forces must face a rapidly evolving set of threats from both emerging unmanned systems and legacy manned platforms. Air defence systems require a layered approach that is flexible, adaptable and rapidly deployable. Anduril’s partnership with Rheinmetall will bring an innovative, software-defined and hardware enabled C-sUAS system to our customers to ensure they stay one step ahead of the drone threat.” For more than a century, Rheinmetall has delivered high-power air defence guns and systems globally, providing unmatched firepower. Anduril, a global defense technology company, has developed a growing family of low-cost autonomous weapons systems all powered by its AI-enabled, interoperable Lattice software platform. 

This cooperation will enable both companies to fulfill the strategic ambition to jointly develop and implement a systematic approach covering a wide sensor and effector mix. Ranging from diverse hard kill effectors to non-lethal effectors to gun missiles and state of the art active and passive detection sensors. The system will increase the survivability dramatically and allow new strategic and operational advantages.