United to win: Rheinmetall and ICEYE collaborate to provide satellite images to Ukraine
Photo: BNS
The German weapons manufacturer Rheinmetall and the SAR ICEYE satellite company formed a partnership in September 2024 to assist Ukraine, and they have already announced their initial achievements from this collaboration.
Rheinmetall reports this on its website.
"To meet Ukraine's urgent need for SAR satellite imaging capabilities, Rheinmetall and Ukraine signed a contract with the support of the German government. The agreement expands the SAR data and other support Ukraine received from ICEYE during the war," the press release reads.
From the beginning of October 2024, Ukraine receives new satellite images taken by ICEYE SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellites as part of the cooperation between Rheinmetall and ICEYE.
This intelligence data will complement other data received from other sensors and will become the basis for decision-making and operational planning by Ukraine's armed forces. The agreement allows the use of the capacities of the entire fleet of ICEYE satellites.
SAR satellites have an advantage over conventional satellites in that they can produce high-resolution images regardless of weather conditions or time of day.
The level of detail is extremely high and enables the identification of even the tiniest objects on the surface of the Earth. This can provide a major advantage to armed forces in tasks such as surveillance, target acquisition, reconnaissance, or self-positioning during combat.
The Dusseldorf-based technology group announced its participation in the world's largest fleet of radar reconnaissance satellites in June 2024, and in September, Rheinmetall and ICEYE further intensified their cooperation. In this context, Rheinmetall has exclusively secured the rights to sell SAR satellites to military and government end customers in the German and Hungarian markets.
ICEYE works closely with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine to support Ukraine in the development of space defense.
In August 2022, ICEYE announced a contract with the Serhii Prytula Charitable Foundation to enable ICEYE to acquire SAR satellite imagery for the government of Ukraine, providing one of ICEYE's satellites for use by the government of Ukraine over the region.
ICEYE also provides access to its array of SAR satellites, allowing Ukrainian forces to obtain radar satellite imagery of critical locations.
In July 2024, ICEYE and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine signed a cooperation agreement that outlines cooperation to strengthen Ukraine's space defense capabilities.
Since 2018, ICEYE has launched 38 satellites for use by ICEYE and its customers.
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It should be noted that the Federal Antimonopoly Office of Germany allowed Rheinmetall to create a joint venture with Ukraine at the end of September. The company was reported to be based in Kyiv.
It was also previously reported that the German concern Rheinmetall was negotiating the construction of a tank plant in Ukraine.
On June 11, it was announced that the Ukrainian Defense Industry and Rheinmetall had commenced their first joint workshop in Ukraine to repair and manufacture armored vehicles.
It is important to note that Rheinmetall was actively helping Ukraine in the war against Russia by supplying ammunition and various equipment. In particular, the concern recently received a new order for artillery shells for Ukraine.
The Rheinmetall concern will build four weapons production plants in Ukraine in total. One of them is already working.
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