Hensoldt AG ''(HENSOLDT)'' is a

multinational corporation A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...

headquartered in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

which focuses on sensor technologies for protection and surveillance missions in the defence,

security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is meant to allow security researchers to easily report security vulnerabilities. The standard prescribes a text file called \"security.txt\" in the well known locat ...

and

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astr ...

sectors. The main product areas are

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

optoelectronics Optoelectronics (or optronics) is the study and application of electronic devices and systems that find, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, ''light'' often includes invisible forms of radiat ...

and

avionics Avionics (a blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the hundreds of systems that are fit ...

. Hensoldt’s main office is in Taufkirchen near Munich,

. On 25 September 2020, HENSOLDT AG was listed in the Prime Standard of the

Frankfurt Stock Exchange The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (german: link=no, Börse Frankfurt, former German name – FWB) is the world's 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time). Organisation Loca ...

at an issue price of 12.00 euros. Based on the issue price, the market capitalisation amounted to 1.26 billion euros.

History

The company originated from the electronics business unit of the defence division of the

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: ' ...

Group. At the end of February 2017, Airbus sold this business unit to the US financial investor KKR for 1.1 billion euros.Arno Schuetze and Sabine Siebold (September 5, 2019)
KKR to sell or float German defence supplier Hensoldt: sources
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

''. Since December 2020, Federal Republic of Germany holds a minimum share, which is managed by the

Federal Ministry of Defence The Federal Ministry of Defence (german: Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, ), abbreviated BMVg, is a top-level federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The ministry is headquartered at ...

(BMVg). Since 2017, the company has been known as Hensoldt. The company’s name can be traced back to Moritz Carl Hensoldt (1821-1903), a German pioneer of

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultrav ...

and precision mechanics in the 19th century. In 1852, he founded an optical workshop for telescopes, astronomical equipment and microscopes. In 2019, media reported that KKR is in the process of preparing for a listing of 20-30% on the stock exchange or a sale of Hensoldt.

Corporate structure

The Hensoldt Group’s holding structure includes the following direct and indirect operating subsidiaries (as of September 2019): * Hensoldt Sensors GmbH, Taufkirchen, Germany * Hensoldt Optronics GmbH,

Oberkochen Oberkochen is a municipality (officially a town, despite its size) in the Ostalbkreis, in Baden-Württemberg, in Germany, central Europe. Name The name "Oberkochen" consists of the two German words "ober", meaning "above" or "upper", and "Ko ...

, Germany * Hensoldt UK Ltd.,

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

, United Kingdom. formerly

Kelvin Hughes Hensoldt UK, formerly Kelvin Hughes, is a British company specialising in the design and manufacture of navigation and surveillance systems and a supplier of navigational data to both the commercial marine and government marketplace. The company ...

* Hensoldt SAS,

Plaisir Plaisir () is a commune located in the heart of the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the center of Paris. It borders among others on Élancourt (south), Tr ...

, France * Nexeya SAS,

Châtenay-Malabry Châtenay-Malabry () is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located 10.8 km (6.7 mi) from the center of Paris. The French writer Chateaubriand lived in the estate ''Vallée-aux-Loups'' at Châtenay-Malabry. The Ga ...

, France * EuroAvionics Holding GmbH,

Pforzheim Pforzheim () is a city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany. It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the nickname "Goldstadt" ("Golden City") ...

, Germany * Hensoldt Australia Pty Ltd, Canberra, Australia. formerly IE Asia-Pacific Pty Ltd. * Hensoldt South Africa,

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

, South Africa. formerly Hensoldt Optronics (Pty) Ltd. and GEW Technologies (Pty) Ltd. * Hensoldt Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru, India * Hensoldt Inc.,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Virginia, United States * Hensoldt Netherlands

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

, The Netherlands

Activities

Radar

Hensoldt develops and manufactures radar systems for the purposes of surveillance,

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

and

air defence Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...

. These radars are used on such platforms as the Eurofighter, the German Navy’s F125 frigates and the US Navy’s

littoral combat ship The littoral combat ship (LCS) is either of two classes of relatively small surface vessels designed for operations near shore by the United States Navy. It was "envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeat ...

s and ground-based systems. In September 2017, Hensoldt acquired the British radar manufacturer

from the private equity firm ECI. Ground based air defense sensors include TRML-3D and TRML-4D active radar and

passive radar Passive radar systems (also referred to as passive coherent location, passive surveillance systems, and passive covert radar) encompass a class of radar systems that detect and track objects by processing reflections from non-cooperative sources of ...

.https://www.hensoldt.net/stories/twinvis-passive-radar> Hensoldt claims to have detected two

F-35 The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide elect ...

fighter jets as they were leaving from the

ILA Berlin Air Show The ILA Berlin Air Show (German: Internationale Luft- und Raumfahrtausstellung (ILA)) combines a major trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries with a public airshow. It is held every even year at the new Berlin ExpoCenter Airp ...

in 2018 with their passive TwInvis radar system. Naval air defense radars include and TRS-4D in fixed panel and rotator variants.

Optronics

Hensoldt manufactures optical and optronic devices for military and civil security applications. The main components of these devices are daylight cameras, thermal imagers, image intensifiers and laser rangefinders. The systems are used on various platforms for air, ground, sea and space missions as well as for the protection of infrastructures and borderlands. The optronic systems are used on board the Puma infantry fighting vehicle, Leopard main battle tank, 212 and 209 type submarines, Gripen and

Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", and "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide rang ...

combat aircraft, AHRLAC reconnaissance aircraft, Baykar TB2 UAV, the Camcopter,

Diamond DA42 The Diamond DA42 Twin Star is a four seat, twin engine, propeller-driven airplane developed and manufactured by the Chinese-owned, Austria-based company Diamond Aircraft Industries. It was Diamond's first twin engine design, as well as the f ...

, and the EDRS-A satellite. In addition to this, Hensoldt also manufactures

sight Visual perception is the ability to interpret the surrounding environment through photopic vision (daytime vision), color vision, scotopic vision (night vision), and mesopic vision (twilight vision), using light in the visible spectrum reflecte ...

s, targeting optics and optical systems deployed in the Leopard 2 main battle tank, PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzer,

NH90 The NHIndustries NH90 is a medium-sized, twin-engine, multi-role military helicopter. It was developed in response to NATO requirements for a battlefield helicopter which would also be capable of being operated in naval environments. The NH90 ...

and

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

transport and combat helicopters, as well as in the “Future Soldier” programme for modernizing the infantry of the “

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

”, the German Armed Forces.

Avionics

The main system manufactured is the Sferion Pilot Assistance system, which allows for safe flight operations in a degraded visual environment. Products also include situational awareness systems, military mission computers and flight data recorders for helicopters and fighter aircraft. The company has set up the air traffic control network of the German Air Force, covering an airspace of 1,700 x 1,500 kilometres, by equipping airports used by the air force with ASR-S surveillance radar. Further air traffic control radars by Hensoldt are under contract for Great Britain, Australia and Canada. In August 2017, Hensoldt acquired the German based company EuroAvionics GmbH, a supplier of civil avionics systems for helicopters and UAVs.

Electronic warfare

Hensoldt's product portfolio for electronic warfare includes 'Kalaetron' family of airborne electronic warfare system, including "Kalaetron Attack" aimed at jamming enemy radars. The company is also a manufacturer of systems for acquiring and analysing radar and radio signals as well as equipments which offer protection for convoys and individual vehicles from attacks by

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mecha ...

s (IED). The company developed MUSS, an operational electronic self-protection system for armored vehicles, which is integrated into the German Armed Forces’ Puma infantry fighting vehicle.

Controversies

In October 2018, the German government imposed a ban on arms exports to Saudi Arabia, citing the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. However, in September 2022, reports revealed that despite the government embargo, Hensoldt continued to sell arms to the Arab nation. In 2019, the firm indulged in a deal for the establishment of a joint venture with the Kingdom’s state-owned arms manufacturer,

Saudi Arabian Military Industries , type = Private , traded_as = , industry = Defense & Security , fate = , founded = , defunct = , hq_location_city = Riyadh, Riyadh , hq_location_country = Saudi Arabia , key_people = Ahmed Al Khateeb (Chairman) Walid Abukhaled (CEO) ...

(SAMI). The German firm also used its subsidiaries in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

to continue supplying arms to Riyadh, as the foreign branches were not subjected to the German arms embargo. In 2020, Saudi required radars for its border with

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

, where the United Arab Emirates and Saudi-led coalition were waging a deadly

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. While hundreds of thousands of people, including civilians, died in the Yemen war, Hensoldt’s boards members were in talks to win the contract. Moreover, Hensoldt had been acting as a subcontractor, supplying components to

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

and French manufacturers, who continued the arms exports to Saudi Arabia.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.hensoldt.net Radar manufacturers Avionics companies Companies based in Bavaria Electronics companies of Germany Defence companies of Germany