During a German Air Force exercise, capabilities from Rheinmetall Air Defence and Hensoldt were successfully integrated to progress networked air defence.
Hensoldt’s Twinvis passive radar generated an air picture which was successfully integrated into Rheinmetall’s Skymaster command and weapon engagement system, which was directing the Skynex Air Defence battery deployed in the scenario.
The exercise the capabilities were involved in wa sTimber Express 2026 in Manching.
The integration took place under realistic NATO networking conditions and demonstrated the high flexibility and open architecture of the Skymaster system.
A common air picture could be generated by fusing and correlating sensor data within NATO’s Link 16 network.
According to the companies, the Hensoldt passive radar demonstrated excellent performance in detecting and tracking air targets.
According to Hensoldt, Twinvis is a passive radar based on the latest digital technology that can be used for wide-area military airspace surveillance or civil air traffic control.
Skymaster has the ability to combine active and passive radar sensors with electrooptical sensors into a comprehensive air picture within the air defence network, Rheinmetall claims.
The companies believe that the findings provide an excellent foundation for the integration into stationary Skynex systems, mobile Skyranger solutions and modern counter-UAS systems such as the Skyspotter.
The success of this trial was possible through the cooperation between the participating German Air Force organisations, the exercise management team and the teams from Rheinmetall Air Defence and Hensoldt.