The Bundeskartellamt has granted approval for KNDS Deutschland Beteiligungs GmbH and ELBIT Systems Land Ltd. to establish a joint venture focused on artillery rocket systems.

KNDS and ELBIT are defense companies that have collaborated on the EuroPULS artillery rocket system. The new joint venture, EuroPULS, will market this system and provide 'through-life services' such as spare parts supply and maintenance, leveraging the resources of its parent companies. The joint venture will not engage in the isolated sale of subsystems and lacks its own development or production facilities, relying instead on supplies from KNDS and ELBIT.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt, stated that the joint project does not raise competitive concerns as the companies do not compete closely but rather combine complementary capabilities. Additionally, there are strong competitors in the market that offer similar portfolios. This cooperation is expected to enhance competition by providing a strong counterbalance to other manufacturers' offerings.

Typically, ventures of this size must be notified to the European Commission. However, the Bundeskartellamt was responsible for the review in this case because the EuroPULS joint venture does not fulfill all the functions of an independent economic entity due to its limited business purpose, thus falling outside the scope of the European Merger Control Regulation.