SMPP, KNDS forge India partnership for next-generation loitering munitions

Indian defence manufacturer SMPP has signed a teaming agreement with European defence major KNDS to manufacture advanced loitering munitions in India, as the country looks to strengthen indigenous defence production and meet the armed forces' growing requirement for precision strike systems.

The agreement, signed at the Eurosatory defence exhibition in Paris on Wednesday, will see SMPP, through its subsidiary SMPP Ammunition, manufacture the systems in India under the government's Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives.

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The partnership will initially focus on offering the loitering munitions to the Indian Army, which has an urgent requirement for such systems amid the military's push to induct advanced battlefield capabilities.

The collaboration covers KNDS' VELOCE and RODEUR loitering munition systems, along with its ISTAR family of drones, providing what the companies described as an integrated "search-and-destroy" capability for modern warfare.

The systems are designed to strike high-value targets with precision using a hybrid navigation architecture that combines multi-constellation Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers with Inertial Navigation Systems (INS), enabling operations across diverse terrains and contested environments. The fire-and-forget capability is intended to enhance their effectiveness in precision strikes against strategic enemy assets.

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The agreement also includes technology transfer alongside indigenous manufacturing, with the companies aiming to strengthen India's domestic defence industrial base while reducing dependence on imports.

The latest partnership builds on an earlier agreement signed by SMPP and KNDS at the Milipol exhibition in Paris in November 2025 to manufacture KATANA, a 155-mm precision-guided artillery munition designed for extended-range, high-accuracy strikes.

SMPP manufactures ballistic protection systems, ammunition, drones, counter-drone systems and other defence technologies, while KNDS -- formed through the merger of France's Nexter and Germany's Krauss-Maffei Wegmann -- is one of Europe's largest land defence groups, supplying military equipment to more than 40 armed forces worldwide