Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) will start up a production line for its locally developed LongClaw glide bomb in South Africa in the second half of 2027, the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Maximilian Froch, has said.
Development of the LongClaw began in early 2025, and a mock-up was shown on the RDM stand at the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) 2026 exhibition at Air Force Base Waterkloof, which ran from 16 to 20 September. Froch told DefenceWeb at the show that while the production line will only start up in the second half of next year, small quantities of the LongClaw are already being assembled by hand. Over the past few months, the weapon has been evaluated on a number of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms.
An Ammunition Maker Moves Into Air-Launched Weapons
RDM is the South African subsidiary of Rheinmetall AG, the German technology and defence group, which holds 51 percent of the company through Rheinmetall Waffe Munition. Rheinmetall is Germany’s largest defence contractor and, according to DefenceWeb, the fifth-largest in Europe. The remaining 49 percent of RDM is held by Denel, South Africa’s state-owned defence company. The joint company was formed on 1 September 2008, when Denel’s Somchem, Swartklip, Boksburg and Naschem divisions joined the Rheinmetall Group, and it operates from sites in Somerset West, Boksburg, Wellington and Boskop near Potchefstroom, according to Rheinmetall.
RDM is a major producer of 155 mm artillery shells, mortar bombs, tank rounds, aircraft bombs and other ammunition. More than 90 percent of its sales go to international clients, which leaves it well placed to market the LongClaw to existing customers in Europe and elsewhere. Its export record has grown with European demand for artillery ammunition: Military Africa has reported orders for its Assegaai 155 mm family from Sweden and Hungary, RDM’s share of work under Germany’s €8.5 billion artillery ammunition contract with Rheinmetall, and the integration of Assegaai rounds with the South African National Defence Force’s (SANDF) G5 and G6 howitzers.
The company said the LongClaw was a natural extension of its existing product line, know-how and technology. Froch said the weapon was designed entirely in South Africa and that most of its components will be made locally. “We have tried to have the most indigenous solution possible,” he said.
Built for Drones
Although the LongClaw can be launched from manned aircraft, RDM’s target market is UAVs. One reason is speed of qualification: clearing a munition for use on a drone is usually much faster than certifying it on a manned aircraft. RDM says mounting and integrating the weapon on UAVs has been designed to be straightforward.
With a total weight of 7.5 kg, a warhead mass of 3 kg and a length of 88 cm, the LongClaw is sized for a wide range of tactical drones now in service. RDM gives its lethal radius as 30 metres. The bomb has a glide ratio of 3.7 to one, meaning it travels 3.7 metres horizontally for every metre it drops, and it uses satellite navigation through the Global Positioning System (GPS) to guide itself onto its target. Released from about 4.9 km, it has a range of around 15 km, according to an RDM data sheet. That is somewhat less than the 18 km the glide ratio alone would suggest from that height, which allows for the energy the bomb spends steering towards its aim point.
RDM said these characteristics suit the weapon to attacking enemy infantry and soft-skinned vehicles, as well as radar, communications, electronic warfare and air defence systems, and airfields. Once the LongClaw is in production, Froch said, it will be upgraded and offered with a choice of warheads and improved guidance.
The LongClaw sits towards the longer-range end of tactical weapons, rather than in the strategic tier dominated by long-range drones and missiles. With a maximum range of about 15 km, it gives the drone carrying it more stand-off distance than many of the munitions now fitted to tactical UAVs. That improves the aircraft’s chances of survival against short-range air defences and gives it the flexibility to strike several targets in one mission. The need is growing in Africa too, as armies and armed groups field more counter-drone systems that push vulnerable UAVs further from their targets.
Paramount Platforms and the SANDF
Mock-ups of the LongClaw were mounted on the wings and under the fuselage of Paramount Group’s V-Raven drone, which was unveiled at AAD 2026. The V-Raven is a 65 kg vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft with a 3.6 metre wingspan, launched first as an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platform; Paramount said a light-attack version carrying precision glide munitions would follow a phased programme of integration, ground tests and flight trials. LongClaw mock-ups in clusters of four were also fitted under the wings of Paramount’s Mwari surveillance and light-attack aircraft, which was on static display at the show and has already been ordered by African operators.
Froch said the LongClaw’s market will be international, but RDM is also trying to interest the SANDF in the weapon. South Africa’s armed forces are expanding their drone fleet, with the Army acquiring new fixed- and rotary-wing UAVs and Denel showing its new Skyler drone at AAD 2026 as SANDF acquisition talks advance. As with international sales of its existing munitions, RDM will need approval from South Africa’s National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) to sell the LongClaw abroad.
From Hand Assembly to a Production Line in 2027
The LongClaw adds a South African option to a fast-growing market for small, precise air-to-ground weapons sized for drones. Other South African firms are moving the same way: Incomar also unveiled drone munitions at AAD 2026. For RDM, the next milestones are the move from hand assembly to a production line in the second half of 2027, the first export approvals from the NCACC, and whether Paramount’s V-Raven or Mwari becomes the first platform cleared to carry the weapon.