Qinetiq Germany recently completed the first successful flight of a Delta B15 target drone from Rheinmetall at the military training area in Todendorf. Rheinmetall as part of the Uncrewed Aerial Training Services (ATS) of the German Armed Forces completed.
As Rheinmetall reports on social media, the Delta B-15 has already demonstrated its capabilities in a live firing with the Rheinmetall Skyranger system (-> Skyranger demo: Rheinmetall shows air defense system) in Switzerland.
According to Qinetiq, this flight was “an important step in the partnership between Qinetiq and Rheinmetall in the field of ground-based air defense” (GBAD). The Delta B15 was selected by the Bundeswehr to meet the new GBAD requirements and is continuously updated to meet new threats, such as the one in the Ukraine war (-> current news from the Ukraine war) widespread use of disposable Shahed drones.
According to Rheinmetall, the Delta B-15 with a wingspan of 1.5 meters and a length of 1.7 meters can reach speeds of up to 180 km/h. With a weight of 15 kilograms, it can carry a payload of up to five kilograms. It resembles a standard attack drone, is used for air defense training and will meet the requirements of NATO and the partner countries of the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI, -> Austria has joined the Sky Shield Initiative) and provide important training for the systems currently stationed in Germany.
Matthias Grögor, Head of Strategic Business Development at Qinetiq, said: “In cooperation with Rheinmetall, Qinetiq can expand its market position in the relevant procurement programs of our customers in Germany. This means that we are already actively preparing today for new weapons systems to be procured, always with an eye on current threats and a view to the year 2035. The cooperation is part of our holistic Global Threat Representation Life Cycle approach, which we at Qinetiq implement worldwide as a service provider in exercises ranging from deployment analysis to implementation.”
Mark Robert Henning, Managing Director of Rheinmetall Technical Publications GmbH, Business Unit Rheinmetall Product and Airborne Solutions, said: “We are grateful that Qinetiq has chosen us to supply the new target drones, which play an active role in the European Sky Shield initiative. We look forward to intensifying our cooperation in this area, based on our extensive experience with targeting solutions for ground-based air defense exercises on the one hand and unmanned systems on the other.”
Henning concludes: “The complexity and diversity of airborne threats are constantly evolving. We at Rheinmetall are constantly anticipating these developments and developing solutions to counter them.”
Here for further news from Rheinmetall, here to further reports about the Bundeswehr and here to our drone topic area with all the latest news on the subject.
