German defence giant plans South African production line for drone bomb with 15 km range

A South African defence manufacturer partly owned by Germany’s Rheinmetall plans to begin production of a small bomb designed for military drones, as the company looks for customers at home and abroad.

• Rheinmetall Denel Munition plans to start a LongClaw production line in the second half of 2027.
• The company says the South African designed glide bomb has a range of about 15 km when released from roughly 4.9 km.
• It is aimed mainly at military drones, although the company says it can also be launched from crewed aircraft.
• Small quantities are being assembled manually; no South African military order or export contract was announced.

Rheinmetall Denel Munition, known as RDM, expects to start a production line for its LongClaw glide bomb in the second half of 2027, according to its chief executive, Maximilian Froch.

The weapon weighs 7.5 kilograms and carries a 3-kilogram warhead. RDM says it can travel about 15 kilometres when released from an altitude of roughly 4.9 kilometres. That range describes a particular release condition- it is not a fixed distance the bomb would travel from every altitude.

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LongClaw is designed chiefly for unmanned aircraft. Unlike a drone that flies into its target, it is a separate weapon released by an aircraft. Its wings allow it to glide towards a target, while a satellite-based system guides it.

RDM says small quantities are already being assembled manually and that the weapon has undergone evaluation on several drone platforms. The company has not announced that a full production line is operating, nor has it identified a confirmed buyer.

Froch disclosed the production timetable in an interview with DefenceWeb published on October 2⁠.

He said LongClaw was designed entirely in South Africa and that most of its components would be made locally. “We have tried to have the most indigenous solution possible,” he said.

A South African design in a German group’s portfolio

RDM is a South African company jointly owned by Rheinmetall’s German ammunition business, which holds 51%, and South African state defence company Denel, which holds the remainder.

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It already produces other types of ammunition and markets products internationally. Rheinmetall identified LongClaw as a drone-deployable glide bomb⁠ when presenting its defence products in June.

That makes the production plan significant for South Africa’s defence industry. A locally designed weapon could be manufactured through a company with established international sales channels, though that does not guarantee export orders.

RDM says it is also trying to interest the South African National Defence Force in LongClaw. Froch told DefenceWeb that international sales would require approval from South Africa’s arms export authorities. Neither domestic procurement nor an overseas sale was announced.

Mock-ups of the bomb were displayed on two South African aircraft designs at September’s Africa Aerospace and Defence exhibition, Paramount’s V-Raven drone and its Mwari aircraft. A display showing how a weapon could be carried should not be mistaken for confirmation that either aircraft has entered service with LongClaw.

For now, LongClaw’s confirmed position is narrower than a completed military upgrade: it is a South African designed weapon undergoing development and evaluation, with a production line planned for next year.