Germany’s Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support has commissioned HENSOLDT to integrate kinetic countermeasures into the ASUL drone defence system.
This follows the update of the sensor technology at the beginning of 2025, which included the latest generation of the HENSOLDT SPEXER radar.
ASUL is a modular counter-small uncrewed aircraft system (C-sUAS) with a scalable and scenario-specific sensor-effector mix, designed for the detection, classification, identification and successful combating of small UAS in real time. Complementary active and passive radar systems, electro-optical sensors and a diverse range of countermeasures, from HENSOLDT and other technology partners, are integrated into a complete system. The C2 software Elysion Mission Core uses AI-supported algorithms to merge all sensor and effector data, including data from other networked air defence and C-UAS systems, and offers suitable options for action as decision support for the operational forces.
ASUL effectors were previously limited to so-called soft-kill capabilities – this spectrum is now expanded by the ability to deploy kinetic countermeasures. HENSOLDT is integrating the KONGSBERG weapon station into a 10-foot container and adapting it for use with the weapons already in service with the German Armed Forces. The company says that a new command container enables close cooperation between the commander, the Elysion operator and the weapon station operators. “In future, each ASUL system can be equipped with several of these effectors, depending on the threat situation, in order to effectively secure large areas against UAS, even if they are protected against soft-kill effectors,” the company said in a January 20 press release.
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