Indian defence firm SMPP and European major KNDS sign teaming agreement for loitering munitions production in India

Key facts

• Indian defence manufacturer SMPP signed a teaming agreement with European defence major KNDS (formed through the merger of France's Nexter and Germany's Krauss-Maffei Wegmann) to manufacture advanced loitering munitions in India.
• The agreement was signed at the Eurosatory defence exhibition in Paris and covers KNDS' VELOCE and RODEUR loitering munition systems along with the ISTAR family of drones.
• The partnership includes technology transfer and indigenous manufacturing under the government's Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives.
• The systems are designed for precision strikes using a hybrid navigation architecture combining multi-constellation Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers with Inertial Navigation Systems (INS), and feature a fire-and-forget capability.
• This partnership builds on an earlier agreement signed at the Milipol exhibition in Paris in November 2025 to manufacture the KATANA 155-mm precision-guided artillery munition.