Rheinmetall and Cassidian have agreed to pursue Rheinmetall’s unmanned aerial systems (UAS) activities together in a joint venture. It was agreed in a contract that Cassidian should hold 51 per cent and Rheinmetall 49 per cent of the shares in the newly established joint venture. The ownership interests are to be assigned to Cassidian by mid-2012 once all the necessary authorisations and antitrust approvals have been granted.

Stefan Zoller, CEO of Cassidian, said to the agreed creation of the joint venture: “As Europe’s leading provider of unmanned aerial systems, we see this as a logical step towards expanding our present UAS programmes. We can offer our global customers a full product range of customised solutions, including tactical UAS and UAS for medium and high-altitude.”

Klaus Eberhardt, Chairman of the Executive Board of Rheinmetall AG, stressed: “First and foremost, our goal is to strengthen the airborne systems product unit in a sustained way, providing it with new opportunities for marketing its state-of-the-art products in years to come. And of course we also want our employees to have a secure future in Bremen, a traditional centre of German high-tech excellence that will continue to host our Defence Electronics and Simulation and Training divisions.”