The contract with the ARGE NNbS consortium, which includes Rheinmetall, Diehl and HENSOLDT, aims to close one of Germany’s most significant capability gaps
Germany’s military procurement agency (BAAINBw) has 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” (LVS NNbS).
Set up in 2021, ARGE NNbS has three member companies: Rheinmetall Electronics GmbH of Bremen, Diehl Defence GmbH & Co. KG of Überlingen, and Hensoldt Sensors GmbH of Taufkirchen. The contract is worth around €1.2 billion overall, with Rheinmetall accounting for €607 million, Diehl for €339 million, and Hensoldt for €284 million, in line with their respective workshares.
Introducing the LVS NNbS aims to ensure that Germany lives up to its role as NATO’s lead nation in ground-based air defence and the European Sky Shield Initiative, closing one of the Bundeswehr’s significant capability gaps.
The core objective of the LVS NNbS development project is to optimise medium-range air defence as well as develop high-mobility air defence capabilities for protecting manoeuvre forces from aerial threats – even when on the move.
Key objectives include achieving the necessary networking of individual components, integration of the medium-range IRIS T-SLM guided missile, assuring interoperability, and extending the intercept zone to include short-range threats.
Networking will enable connection to the IRIS T-SLM fire units currently under procurement and the Skyranger 30 ground-based mobile air defence system to be procured in future. The project is in the hands of the German defence industry; ARGE NNbS is the German government’s contract partner.
By bundling complementary core capabilities – including those of other German defence contractors – ARGE NNbS brings together the foundational knowledge, capabilities and expertise needed to meet the requirements. In the process, key technologies will stay in Germany, where they will be preserved and perfected.
