“This collaboration aims to meet Germany’s growing need for state‑of‑the‑art loitering munition systems, including by expansion of autonomous precision‑strike and reconnaissance capabilities,” an Elbit statement reads.
Elbit Systems and Diehl Defence: the partnership announced in Berlin
On June 11, Israel’s Elbit Systems announced a strategic partnership with Germany’s Diehl Defence to offer the SkyStriker loitering munition to the German Armed Forces. The announcement coincided with the Berlin Air Show and, according to Elbit, will include local manufacturing and assembly with Diehl to support “the development of sovereign capabilities and strengthening the German defense industry.”
SkyStriker: range, payload and provenance
SkyStriker was first unveiled in 2017 at the Paris Air Show. Elbit describes the system as having a range of over 200 km and a capacity to carry up to 10 kilograms of munitions. The company presents SkyStriker as part of a long-running Israeli push into loitering munitions — a technological line it traces to the 1990s and says intensified following the Ukraine conflict and Israel’s war in Gaza. Elbit also noted that SkyStriker “has been sold in the past to unnamed European nations.”
Industrial pitch: local production and sovereign capability
The public rationale for the tie-up stresses local production. Elbit said the deal will include manufacturing and assembly with Diehl to back both sovereign capabilities and the German defense industry. Elbit’s President and CEO Bezhalel Machlis characterized the partnership as “strategic,” saying: “By combining Diehl’s deep experience in system integration and production with Elbit’s advanced loitering munition technology, we aim to provide a powerful and future‑ready solution for the German Armed Forces.”
Diehl framed the cooperation in similar terms. “Diehl Defence is proud to partner with Elbit systems in the field of loitering munition to strengthen Germany’s capabilities in this segment,” Diehl Defence CEO Helmut Rauch said in a company statement. “This cooperation does not only strengthen the development of sovereign capabilities but also the German defence industry.”
Connections to EuroPULS and recent German contracts
Elbit highlighted interoperability between SkyStriker and other Elbit platforms, including the EuroPULS rocket launcher. The companies’ recent public history underscores this broader push: KNDS and Elbit signed a teaming agreement for EuroPULS in 2023, and Elbit said in 2025 that it had been awarded a contract to supply the PULS system to German’s armed forces. Elbit framed the Diehl partnership as part of a broader effort to tap rising European defense budgets and demand for precision systems.
What this means for the German Armed Forces, Diehl Defence, and Elbit Systems
- The German Armed Forces — The offer is explicitly targeted at Berlin as a potential customer; the partnership packages SkyStriker with local manufacturing and assembly as a way to strengthen sovereign capabilities and give procurement officials an option that emphasizes domestic production.
- Diehl Defence — Diehl will present itself as the systems integrator and producer on the German side, stressing the partnership’s role in reinforcing the German defence industry and system‑integration expertise.
- Elbit Systems — The company is positioning SkyStriker as a marketable loitering munition across Europe, linking it to prior teaming arrangements (EuroPULS) and recent contract wins (a 2025 PULS award to German’s armed forces) as evidence of growing European demand for precision strike and artillery systems.
The announcement is a concrete example of vendors pitching integrated, locally produced solutions as national procurement debates in Europe continue to evolve. Whether Berlin will move from offers and demonstrations to procurement decisions remains the immediate question; the June 11 announcement at the Berlin Air Show establishes the partnership and the pitch, but the German Armed Forces’ selection process will determine if SkyStriker and its local-production promise convert into fielded capability.
