Diehl Defence

Diehl Defence is the defense arm of the Diehl Group, a German industrial family business that has stayed in the hands of the Diehl family, through the Diehl Stiftung holding company, since the firm's founding in 1902. The defense division in its current form dates to 2017, when Diehl BGT Defence and a separate Diehl Defence Holding were merged into one company, though the underlying missile and ammunition businesses trace back further, into the 2004 combination of Bodenseewerke Gerätetechnik and Diehl Munitionssysteme. The company is best known today for the IRIS-T family. It began as a short-range, high off-boresight air-to-air missile used by more than a dozen NATO and allied air forces, but Diehl adapted the seeker and rocket motor into a ground-based air defense system, and the results have become one of the most visible European weapons of the past few years. IRIS-T SLS covers the short and very-short range, IRIS-T SLM extends that out to medium range with roughly 40 kilometers of horizontal reach, and IRIS-T SLX pushes further still, with Diehl unveiling a combined SLM/X launcher able to fire both interceptor types from the same eight-round system.

Ukraine's air force has fielded several IRIS-T SLM batteries against Russian missile and drone attacks, and Diehl has since delivered or contracted systems to Sweden, Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, and Egypt among others. Guided missiles are only one of Diehl's product lines, though. The company co-developed the RAM ship self-defense missile with what is now Raytheon, and RAM has become a standard close-in air defense weapon on German, US, Japanese, South Korean, and other allied warships. Diehl also builds IDAS, a submarine-launched missile designed to let a submerged boat engage helicopters and small surface craft, produces the PARS 3 LR anti-tank guided missile, and manufactures the RBS15 anti-ship missile jointly with Saab. Beyond missiles, Diehl Defence supplies ammunition across infantry, naval, and guided categories, counter-drone and counter-UAS systems built on its air defense sensor and effector base, reconnaissance and protection equipment for soldiers and vehicles, and training and customer support services that keep its fielded systems running for decades.

The company does not build platforms, aircraft, or ships. It builds the munitions, missiles, and sensors that arm them, and the IRIS-T program in particular has turned a mid-sized German family firm into one of the more closely watched suppliers in European air defense. Diehl Defence employed roughly 4,600 people in 2024, spread across its Überlingen headquarters and several German production sites, and remains privately held with no public shares to trade.