German gunmaker Heckler & Koch enters drone defence business

Germany's largest manufacturer of small arms, Heckler & Koch, is entering the drone defence business, the company's chief executive said on Wednesday.

The firm has already received an order for such a system, Jens Bodo Koch said at company headquarters in Oberndorf, south-west of Stuttgart. He did not provide further details.

"Drones pose an incredible threat to infantry soldiers, for which there are currently only a few solutions," he said.

Heckler & Koch's new drone defence system involves grenade launchers or automatic grenade launchers that are mounted on a vehicle turret and equipped with a sensor box that uses artificial intelligence to detect drones in the sky and assess their threat level. The grenade is then programmed to explode near the drone.

"A metal cloud is created in the air, which the drone flies into and is destroyed," Koch explained. He is not related to the company's founder, Theodor Koch.

Collaboration on systems development

For its drone defence system, Heckler & Koch is collaborating with the artificial intelligence specialist Autonomous Teaming from Munich.

The German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall is supplying control components for the grenades, while the vehicle turret is provided by a Slovenian company.

"We are the system provider that brings it all together," Koch said.

The project is still in its development phase, with initial firing tests already conducted, but is expected to be completed and ready for sale by the end of the year.