LONDON and BELFAST — Lockheed Martin and Diehl Defence have joined forces to cooperate on maritime air defense capabilities for surface vessels, in hopes of enticing “navies around the world.”
The US and German defense giants sat down to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday at the Berlin Security Conference, in which the firms said they would aim to explore how the partners can fuse together Diehl’s guided missile and ground-based air defense systems, like its IRIS-T family of air defenses, and Lockheed’s integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) capabilities, including its Aegis Weapon System and MK41 Vertical Launch System (VLS).
Speaking to Breaking Defense from Berlin, a spokesperson for Diehl said the MoU was at a “starting point,” with both partners in the process of defining “next steps as of now.”
But the spokesperson did confirm the partnership was “looking at two separate projects” to kick off the cooperation, although he was unable to provide further details.
“We are addressing a significant market of several potential customers,” the spokesperson said.
Lockheed Chief Executive and Vice President for Europe Dennis Goge described the setup as a “win-win situation for both companies.”
“I would argue for Diehl to get into the Aegis Weapon System and into the Mk41 and Mk70 vertical launchers, that’s a big deal for them,” he said. “On the other hand, it’s good for us, because we diversify the portfolio there.”
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When asked about a possible launch customer for the cooperation, Goge suggested the German military could be interested. Current users of IRIS-T in the maritime environment include the German Navy, which is integrated IRIS-T SLM surface to air missiles on board its F125 frigate, the Baden-Württemberg.
“They’re using [IRIS-T] in the [IAMD] environment, all the way through and across the board. So it just makes sense, also from an interoperability point of view,” he said. “So clearly, that is a vision, that is crystal clear and makes a lot of sense.”
The MoU was signed in Berlin by Helmut Rauch, CEO of Diehl Defence, and Chandra Marshall, Vice President at Lockheed Martin.
“With Diehl Defence and Lockheed Martin linking up their expertise and capabilities, navies around the globe can benefit from the optimum for air defense systems on their surface Weapon vessels. We are proud to intensify our collaboration with Lockheed Martin in the field of guided missiles and the air defense applications,” Rauch said.
Marshall added: “This strategic collaboration continues to showcase the scalability and increased capacity of our programs, which bring next‑generation IAMD capability and 21st century security worldwide.”
