Role & capabilities
- Reconnaissance
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- Rheinmetall
- Origin / production countries
- Germany
- Other names
- No additional names recorded
- Variants / configurations
- Not distinguished in reviewed sources
- Operators / programme customers
- German Army — historical use documented
Evidence & current status
Legacy operational use is documented. The April 2025 replacement schedule is not proof of completed retirement.
KZO is a German tactical reconnaissance aircraft whose identity and technical baseline are documented in a parliamentary inventory. It is a different airframe from both generations of LUNA. The historic record establishes fielded use, including Afghanistan, but does not provide a current fleet count.
The figures shown here come from that dated inventory and are labelled accordingly. They describe an earlier configuration and should not be treated as a newly tested September 2026 performance statement. An infrared sensor fit is supported; later customer-specific changes require additional evidence.
In April 2025 the Bundeswehr described HUSAR as KZO’s replacement and expected initial deliveries later that year. That was a forward-looking timetable. It cannot establish that all KZO aircraft were retired on the anticipated date. The catalogue therefore keeps the legacy system visible while retaining a specific evidence gap for completed replacement and final retirement.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Launch / recovery | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Propulsion | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Dimensions | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Mass | 160 kg | Historical parliamentary inventory. Source |
| Endurance | 3–5 hours | Historic configuration range. Source |
| Range | 65 km | Historic system operating-range figure. Source |
| Speed | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Altitude | 4,000 m | Historic inventory, not a current flight test. Source |
| Payload | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Sensors | Infrared reconnaissance payload | Historic configuration. Source |
| Communications / navigation | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
Publication history
- — Published reference update.
Suggest a correction to this entry
Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.
- Bundestag historic unmanned-aircraft inventory and technical table (opens in a new tab)Government / parliamentary record
- Bundeswehr: reconnaissance systems and planned HUSAR transition, 28 April 2025 (opens in a new tab)Government / operator