Anduril and Rheinmetall Team Up to Develop European Military Drones
By Joe Brock
PARIS (Reuters) -U.S. drone-maker Anduril and German defence giant Rheinmetall said on Wednesday they will partner to build aerial drones for European markets, in a sign of Europe leveraging American technology to boost military capabilities.
The companies will jointly-develop European variants of Anduril's Barracuda and Fury aerial drones, as well as exploring opportunities to build solid rocket motors, which are used to propel missiles and rockets.
"By integrating Anduril's solutions into Rheinmetall's European production setup and digital sovereignty framework, we’re building on that foundation to bring new kinds of autonomous capabilities into service, ones that are quick to produce, modular, and aligned with NATO’s evolving requirements," said Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall.
In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and amid concerns over U.S. defence commitments under President Donald Trump, many European nations have pledged to increase military spending.
However, Europe continues to depend heavily on U.S. defence firms to fill critical capability gaps - not only in traditional systems like fighter jets and missiles, but also in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, low-Earth orbit satellites and drones.
California-based Anduril is part of a wave of U.S. defence technology companies - including AI firm Palantir and Elon Musk's SpaceX - that are challenging traditional defence manufacturing giants with faster innovation.
The war in Ukraine has shown the increasing importance of drones in modern warfare. The Barracuda is designed to be cheap, fast to build and easy to launch in large numbers and can act like a cruise missile. Fury is a more expensive, stealthier, longer-range drone designed for combat and surveillance.
"This is a different model of defense collaboration, one built on shared production, operational relevance, and mutual respect for sovereignty," said Brian Schimpf, CEO of Anduril Industries.
"Together with Rheinmetall, we’re building systems that can be produced quickly, deployed widely, and adapted as NATO missions evolve."
(Reporting by Joe BrockEditing by Mark Potter)
