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Rheinmetall buys
Zaugg Elektronik
Düsseldorf. The Rheinmetall
group continues to expand its defence
technology portfolio, taking
up a 100% stake in Zaugg Elektronik
AG of Lohn-Ammannsegg,
Switzerland, effective 1 January
2007. Jointly owned, Zaugg Elektronik
was previously controlled
via a holding company.
The takeover represents another
important strategic step in Rheinmetall’s
consolidation of the European
land systems sector,
strengthening the group’s status
as a single-source supplier of
medium- and large-caliber ammunition.
As well as widening its
range of products, the acquisition
reduces Rheinmetall’s dependence
on external suppliers and
opens up new sales opportunities.
An internationally renowned manufacturer
of military fuse systems,
Zaugg Elektronik AG supplies numerous
European and North American
defence contractors with
highly specialized fuses for medium-
and large-caliber ammunition.
Newsline
The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration has awarded Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH an order for Birdie 118 aircraft
decoys for Swedish Air Force helicopters. The decoys will be delivered in 2007 and used in future international operations.
Sweden contracts
Birdie 118 system
Stockholm/Düsseldorf. The Swedish
Defence Materiel Administration
has awarded Rheinmetall Waffe Munition
GmbH an order for Birdie 118 aircraft
decoys for Swedish Air Force helicopters.
The decoys will be delivered
in 2007 and used in future international
operations.
Birdie, an acronym for “Bi-spectral
InfraRed Decoy Improved Efficiency”, is
a proprietary development of Rheinmetall
Defence. The Birdie represents a
new departure in protecting helicopters
against modern infrared-guided
surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles. It
is also uniquely effective in countering
shoulder-launched Manpads.
It can be used in any 1x1” Nato standard
dispensing system for aircraft
self-protection, and is also available
in a 2x1” caliber version, the Birdie
218. Numerous Nato and national
Amoun batteries
with good results
Kuwait City/Rome. Some weeks ago
the very first firing campaign with four
advanced Amoun batteries from
Rheinmetall Italy – including two of
the systems delivered to the Kuwaiti
armed forces a short time ago – was
conducted in the middle of the desert
about 100 km to the west of Kuwait
City. The official handover of these systems
had been celebrated in the presence
of high-ranking visitors.
Five Aspide missiles were launched
from SAM missile launchers during the
tests; the test team also fired 35mm
anti-aircraft guns six times. The test results
were excellent and to the full satisfaction
of all involved. The systems
employed for the first test campaign
consisted of two Amoun batteries,
each with a Skyguard Fire Control Unit
(FCU), two 35mm anti-aircraft guns
and two SAM missile launchers. The
delivery agreement for the two Amoun
systems that served as a partial replacement
for the five batteries that
had disappeared during the Iraqi invasion
had been concluded in 2002 and
officially finalized a few months ago.
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tests have proved the Birdie’s effectiveness
against even the most advanced
guided missiles with twocolour
analysis.
Rheinmetall Weapon and Munitions,
a business unit of the Düsseldorfbased
Rheinmetall Defence group, is
one of the world’s leading manufacturers
of self-protection systems and
decoys for protecting military and
civilian assets. The Swedish order
represents a breakthrough in the international
market.
Claudio Koporossy, sales director at
Rheinmetall Italy in Rome on the successful
test campaign: “The firing
tests were organized in four sessions;
the first three were basically training
and exercising and the last day was
the VIP event attended by numerous
high-ranking visitors, including the
Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and
his deputy, all forces commanders
and many generals.”
The third missile launch was particularly
notable according to Koporossy:
“A so-called friendly target
was simulated. The Aspide missile
has a self-destruction mechanism
which can be triggered from the Skyguard
system – something that was
done in this test. This allowed us to
demonstrate an important function
of the system that permits missile
destruction in flight if – at the last
minute – a target is identified as
friendly.”
Thanks to the outstanding results
of the test campaign in Kuwait, sales
manager Koporossy rates the
chances of further system deliveries
to Kuwait - to substitute the three
Amoun batteries that went missing in
1990/1991 and have not yet been replaced
– as good.