This week’s ILA Berlin airshow generated some news related to current German defense requirements. Otherwise, there was little of interest from a defense perspective. However, the show marked the public debut of a new German optionally piloted vehicle (OPV) which joins a crowded field of small aerial platforms designed for surveillance. 

The OPV is designated Q01 and was designed by Reiner Stemme Utility Air Systems (RS-UAS), which is led by the same man that designed the Stemme series of motor gliders. Dr. Stemme founded his new company near Berlin in 2013, and has been funded by the Gulf state of Qatar to develop the Q01, a high-wing all-composite aircraft with a single Thielert diesel engine that can also run on Jet A1 fuel. The two-seat prototype first flew last November and is currently being flown manned in order to achieve EASA CS23 single-engine IFR certification. The maximum speed is 180 knots with a ceiling of 30,000 feet and a claimed endurance of 50 hours in unmanned configuration. Proposed sensors include a Thales Searchmaster 400 radar and an L-3 Wescam MX-20 EO/IR turret. 

The German air force has a requirement for a new surveillance UAS, but has already specified the IAI Heron TP system to be contractor-operated by Airbus DS. However, no deal has yet been signed, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) was at the show, promoting a lease or buy of the MQ-9 Reaper, which it calls the Predator B. With the UK, France, Italy and Spain having already opted for the American UAS, “this system commonality promotes interoperability and logistical economies,” said GA-ASI ceo Linden Blue. The company added that Germany was being offered the Certifiable Predator B (CPB), and reported more progress with it, including successful flight tests of its Due Regard Radar (DRR) and a 37.5-hour flight thanks to its bigger wing. GA-ASI also announced a new name for the CPB – the Guardian Eagle. 

The German army needs to replace its old Sikorsky CH-53G heavy transport helicopters, and has requested pricing and availability from the Pentagon for the new CH-53K versions, and alternatively for the Boeing CH-47F Chinook. The Germans have not yet released a formal request for proposal (RFP), but are expected to require about 40 helicopters for service starting in 2022. The twin-engine Chinook is smaller than the three-engine CH-53K. At the 2010 Berlin airshow, there was talk of developing a larger Chinook specifically for European requirements. But that idea has been abandoned, and at their respective briefings in Berlin this year, Boeing and Sikorsky were suggesting only minor changes to their products to suit Germany.

Diehl Defence was displaying its Laser Guided Sidewinder (LaGS), in which the infrared seeker of the AIM-9 air-to-air missile is replaced with a semi-active laser homing head. This converts the missile to an air-ground weapon. Diehl revealed the LaGS in 2013 as a potential weapon for the Tiger attack helicopter. But now it is expecting a contract from the German air force to convert 300 AIM-9L missiles for the Tornado strike jet fleet instead. Diehl also reported that its risk-reduction study on adapting the Elbit Systems J-MUSIC DIRCM system for Germany’s A400M airlifters will be completed this year. At the show, Diehl and Elbit signed an agreement to expand their cooperation on missile protection to military helicopters. 

MBDA Germany and Lockheed Martin (LM) briefed on the Medium Extended Air Defence System (MEADS) that was selected by Germany a year ago to replace its Patriot air defense missiles. A complete prototype MEADS was on display. LM Missiles and Fire Control executive v-p Rick Edwards claimed that “countries that have already chosen a competing system are now reconsidering their decisions.” That was a reference to Poland’s choice of the Raytheon Patriot system. But also at the show, Raytheon’s managing director for Germany made a renewed pitch for the Patriot. He cast doubt on the MEADS team’s ability to meet the milestones that Germany has mandated, before a development contract can be awarded 

Separately, MBDA Germany and Rheinmetall jointly presented a new close air defense system that integrates the former’s Mistral guided missiles into the latter’s MPCS turret for armored fighting vehicles. MBDA Germany also revealed a 360-degree laser effector that could shoot down UAVs, rockets and mortar shells. The development builds on the company’s previous work on lasers and is “a further important step towards an operationally deployable system,” it said.