In today’s meeting, the Federal Office for Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw), which is Germany’s military procurement agency, signed a development contract with the Short- and Very Short-Range Air Defence System Consortium (ARGE NNbS) for the “Air Defence System, Short- and Very Short-Range,” also known as LVS NNbS. Diehl Defence GmbH & Co. KG of Überlingen, Rheinmetall Electronics GmbH of Bremen and Hensoldt Sensors GmbH of Taufkirchen are the three firms that are members of ARGE NNbS, which was established in 2021.
The deal is estimated to be valued at approximately €1.2 billion (including VAT), with Rheinmetall accounting for €607 million, Diehl accounting for €339 million, and Hensoldt responsible for €284 million, which reflects their respective workshares.
To ensure that Germany lives up to its role as the leading nation in ground-based air defence and the European Sky Shield Initiative, introducing the LVS NNbS is a vital step that will close one of the considerable capacity gaps that the Bundeswehr has.
The fundamental purpose of the LVS NNbS development project is to optimise medium-range air defence and develop high-mobility air defence capabilities for safeguarding manoeuvre troops from aerial attacks – even when on the move.
The successful completion of the necessary network of individual components, the incorporation of the medium-range IRIS T-SLM guided missile, the guarantee of interoperability, and the expansion of the intercept zone to include threats from shorter ranges are among the primary goals.
Establishing a connection to the IRIS T-SLM firing units currently being purchased and the Skyranger 30 ground-based mobile air defence system that will be bought in the future will be made possible through networking.
ARGE NNbS is the contract partner for the German government, and the German defence industry is currently managing the project until completion.
ARGE NNbS can bring together the basic knowledge, capabilities, and expertise that are necessary to achieve the criteria by bundling key capabilities that are complementary to one another. These core capabilities include those of other German defence contractors. For the duration of the process, essential technology will remain in Germany, where it will be maintained and improved upon.
