Safran Electronics & Defense will invest nearly €50 million ($57 million) in a new defense equipment facility in Ludwigsburg, Germany, as the French group expands its industrial footprint in the country.
The new site, located in Baden-Württemberg, will replace Safran’s current facility in Murr and is expected to become operational in early 2028. Safran said the larger facility will provide additional industrial capacity to support the growth of its defense equipment activities in Germany.
The investment will create 200 jobs, including positions for engineers, production technicians, quality managers, business development specialists, and sales professionals.
New capacity for navigation and optronics equipment
Safran said the Ludwigsburg site will strengthen production and maintenance capacity currently handled at Murr, which focuses mainly on fiber optic gyroscopes (FOG) and position, navigation and timing (PNT) equipment.
These systems are used on both civil and military platforms, supporting navigation and timing functions in environments where accuracy and resilience are critical.
The new facility will also add production and maintenance capabilities for portable optronic equipment used by soldiers.
Safran said the project is intended to reinforce its position as an industrial partner to the Bundeswehr, the German government and German defense companies.
“For over 40 years, Safran Electronics & Defense Germany has been equipping the German armed forces and defense industry,” said Marzell Schiller, Director of Safran Electronics & Defense Germany.
Schiller said the Ludwigsburg investment would support Germany’s “technological sovereignty” and expand Safran’s “Made in Germany” offering.
Safran Electronics & Defense expands European defense production
Safran Electronics & Defense is the group’s aerospace, defense and space equipment subsidiary. Its activities include avionics, critical electronics, optronics, inertial navigation, guidance, actuation, flight controls, satellite engines and artificial intelligence systems.
The German investment comes as Safran continues to expand production capacity across several high-technology defense and aerospace product lines.
On June 8, 2026, Safran announced a separate €120 million ($137 million) investment at its Montluçon site in central France to increase production of hemispherical resonator gyroscopes (HRG), another type of high-precision inertial navigation sensor used in aircraft, ships, armored vehicles and missiles.
The company has also expanded production in the space segment, including small satellite propulsion systems in France and the US.
