Germany's military aviation authority has granted provisional airworthiness certification to the Rheinmetall LUNA NG unmanned reconnaissance system. The certificate from the Luftfahrtamt der Bundeswehr (LufABw) is an interim step toward full type certification, which Rheinmetall said remains in progress. The company said the majority of the criteria required for full approval have been met, without specifying which remain outstanding.
The provisional certificate allows the Bundeswehr to conduct its own flight operations with the system for training and testing. Rheinmetall said the first German military pilots and verifiers had completed training on the type.
Before receiving military approval, the system completed roughly 150 sorties totaling approximately 200 flight hours under civil operating licenses, according to Rheinmetall. Mike Schmidt, CEO of Rheinmetall's Air Unmanned Space business unit, said certification was conducted to the same standards applied to large aircraft such as the Airbus A320. Safety-critical components, including the autopilot and navigation systems, had to be developed and certified in-house because no certified equivalents were available for tactical unmanned aircraft, he added.
Rheinmetall said the approval allows LUNA NG to be integrated into regular, restricted airspace while meeting civil safety standards, removing its confinement to purely military areas. Compliance with aviation testing procedures could ultimately permit regular operations over densely populated European territory, according to the company.
The Bundeswehr is introducing LUNA NG under the designation HUSAR. Rheinmetall took over the program from the original manufacturer, EMT, after the company became insolvent. A contract amendment signed on September 28, 2023, covered 12 production systems and one pilot system, with a total value of approximately €200 million ($231 million).
