Rheinmetall Kraken has just started a large-scale factory production run of the K3 Scout uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) at one of Rheinmetall’s German shipyards.
The newly formed joint venture between British USV firm Kraken Technology Group and German defence prime Rheinmetall has begun scaled-up production of the USV at the Blohm+Voss site in Hamburg.
At present the firm intends to produce roughly 200 units per year, but if necessary it says it can increase this by a factor of five to as many as 1,000 boats a year if market demand requires it.
The drone boat is almost 8.5 metres long, and capable of speeds of up to 55 knots; it can be configured with a number of different payloads to suit individual mission requirements.
CEO of Kraken Technology Group Mal Crease commented: “The formation of Rheinmetall Kraken GmbH combines the scale, expertise and reach of a longstanding defence leader with an agile, innovative maritime technology company.
“This will ensure that production of Kraken’s K3 Scout can scale to meet exponentially growing operational requirements.”
Rheinmetall’s new Naval Systems division stated it intends to develop the Hamburg site into Germany’s leading test and technology centre for uncrewed and autonomous marine systems.
In March the Royal Navy announced Kraken Technology Group will build 20 USVs for the force under Project Beehive in a £12.3 million deal.
In August last year then-CEO of NVL and now CEO of Rheinmetall’s Naval Systems division Tim Wagner commented: “The joint venture with Kraken offers us the opportunity to rapidly react to the latest requirements of our customers and to provide market-ready autonomous systems quickly and in high volumes.”
He added: “At the same time, by taking this step, we are expanding our role as a pioneer in the development of manned/unmanned teaming (MUM-T) concepts and are creating the right conditions for launching additional innovative solutions in this field.
“This also includes, for instance, our design concepts for the naval tender vessel NTV 130 as a drone mothership that could succeed the six tender vessels currently operated by the German Navy.”
- You can read more details on the Rheinmetall website and the Kraken Technologies website