Diehl Defence and Elbit Systems took the SkyStriker loitering munition to a range in Germany in early September. It left its canister, climbed, and waited. A second, higher-flying aircraft found the target. At 80 kilometres, the two systems passed it between them. SkyStriker then recognised the object on its own, tracked it, and struck it.
Diehl and Elbit announced the trial on 14 September. The firing itself happened earlier in the month. The demonstration did not unveil a new airframe.
It showed a network.
If the Bundeswehr orders it, Diehl builds, assembles and qualifies the system inside Germany.
Berlin is already discussing up to 500 loitering systems. That demand is being priced now.
What the 80-kilometre hand-over changes
The munition itself is mature. SkyStriker carries a warhead of up to 10 kilograms (22 pounds), loiters for more than two hours, and reaches beyond 200 kilometres. It launches from a canister, a ground vehicle, a naval platform, a container, or an aircraft. Electric propulsion keeps its acoustic signature low. Elbit says the system is combat-proven in several countries.
None of that is new.
What the trial added is the hand-over: one aircraft locates the target and passes it to the munition, which then acts alone. Before this month, that link was theory for this system.
The link held.
Distance at which one aircraft passed the target to the munition
SkyStriker then tracked and engaged the target autonomously. · Diehl Defence / Elbit Systems, September 2026
That matters for unit cost as much as capability. A munition cued by another platform's sensor can launch before a target is fully identified, then commit in flight. The drone becomes a cheap extension of an expensive aircraft rather than a replacement for it.
Our system is already setting the standard for future long-range loitering munitions. This demonstration marks another milestone for SkyStriker in Europe and on the path to German production.— Marian Rachow, CEO, Elbit Systems Germany
The industrial bet behind the demonstration
Diehl Defence and Elbit Systems signed their partnership at the ILA Berlin air show in June 2026. The agreement says what happens if Germany awards a programme: Diehl Defence handles manufacturing, assembly, integration and qualification in Germany, while Elbit drives market development.
That division of labour is the point. Elbit keeps the technology and the export record. Diehl turns both into sovereign German capacity — the structure Berlin has pressed for across its defence programmes.
We are proud to work together with Elbit Systems to pave the way for highly advanced, local production in Germany, in order to sustainably strengthen European defence capabilities.— Gunnar Pappert, Diehl Defence
Why Berlin is counting loitering munitions
The demand is visible in the launcher. EuroPULS, a joint venture between KNDS and Elbit Systems Land in Kassel, is the rocket-artillery system Berlin wants to field with a munition called Predator Hawk that reaches roughly 300 kilometres. SkyStriker is designed to launch from the same platform.
German discussions cover up to 500 loitering systems, with 250 in a first framework agreement. SkyStriker competes for that budget line against domestic designs.
The economics favour volume. As we wrote in September, cheap effectors and lasers are splitting drone defence into two tiers — and the cheaper tier is winning the numbers game. A munition that borrows someone else's sensor sits in that tier.
What to watch before a contract
The trial was a demonstration, not a qualification. German production begins only if the Bundeswehr awards a programme. Two signals will settle it: whether SkyStriker is named in the first framework agreement, and whether Diehl confirms a plant and a delivery schedule.
SkyStriker is also Elbit's second appearance in our pages this month — the FUSE autonomous-systems analysis ran on 12 September. Two German-facing moves in five days is a pattern worth tracking.