Key Points
- MBDA and Germany’s BAAINBw signed a contract to develop and produce the DefendAir anti-drone missile system.
- MBDA plans to take a position $2.8 billion between 2025 and 2029 to broaden missile manufacturing capability in Europe.
MBDA and the German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) have signed a contract for the event and procurement of the brand new DefendAir anti-drone missile system, aimed toward countering the rising risk of unmanned aerial autos.
According to MBDA, the settlement, signed on November 10, 2025, covers the event and large-scale manufacturing of the DefendAir missile on the firm’s amenities in Schrobenhausen. The system is being developed as a part of Germany’s Short- and Very Short-Range Air Defense (NNbS) program and might be built-in into the Skyranger 30 air protection automobile.
MBDA stated DefendAir is designed to neutralize small and fast-moving drones, together with swarm formations, which have turn out to be more and more tough to counter utilizing typical air protection programs. The firm emphasised that the brand new missile offers a serious functionality enhance for Germany’s air protection forces, enhancing safety in opposition to trendy aerial threats.
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“DefendAir is really a game-changer within the subject of drone protection,” stated Thomas Gottschild, Executive Group Director Strategy at MBDA and Managing Director of MBDA Deutschland GmbH. “With DefendAir, Germany is constructing state-of-the-art drone protection capabilities — an important contribution to Europe and NATO in addition to to closing current functionality gaps. The system leverages confirmed applied sciences from the Enforcer program, decreasing improvement danger and guaranteeing the quickest attainable availability.”
Gottschild added that DefendAir can be a part of Germany’s contribution to the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI) and has already attracted robust curiosity from accomplice nations.
MBDA famous that the missile meets the Bundeswehr’s nationwide necessities for short-range air protection whereas becoming seamlessly into the corporate’s international portfolio. Alongside programs comparable to Sky Warden, the Mistral household, and CAMM (Common Anti-Air Modular Missile), DefendAir will broaden MBDA’s built-in air protection options.
The firm stated preliminary improvement work had already begun earlier than the contract signing to speed up supply timelines and strengthen Germany’s readiness in opposition to the growing use of drones in trendy conflicts.
Between 2023 and 2025, MBDA doubled its missile manufacturing capability throughout its European websites and plans to take a position one other €2.4 billion ($2.8 billion) between 2025 and 2029 to additional scale up manufacturing output.
The DefendAir missile, beforehand generally known as the Small Anti-Drone Missile, combines compact dimension with precision steering to intercept drones throughout quick and really quick ranges. Its modular design allows integration into numerous ground-based air protection platforms, offering flexibility for each nationwide and allied use.
