Rheinmetall has won another major order for logistic vehicles. Germany’s Federal Office for Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) has entered a framework contract with Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) for delivery of up to 4,000 swap body systems, many of which will feature armoured driver’s cabs. Of these 540 vehicles, 230 will be protected. Delivery will start early next year, making sure that the Bundeswehr has an adequate number of vehicles in 2023 when Germany takes over leadership of NATO’s spearhead: the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, or VJTF. Running from 2021 to 2027 for Rheinmetall the framework contract represents around €2 billion in total sales volume. To begin with, the Group will supply the Bundeswehr with an initial tranche of 540 vehicles. Worth around €348 million including VAT, they have now been taken under contract.
Assuring excellent off-road mobility, RMMV’s robust, all-terrain-capable HX 8×8 vehicles can be optionally fitted with a protected cab. Standard features include a hook loader developed by the Hiab company, which can quickly lift and set down the accompanying flat racks. In addition, the vehicles can accommodate an interchangeable platform or a container via the standardized 20-foot ISO interfaces. The protected swap body systems enhance the survivability and sustainment capability of the Logistics Corps, as well as strengthening its tactical flexibility. Unlike the Unprotected Transport Vehicle (UTF), likewise supplied by RMMV, these systems will be predominately deployed in forward operating areas, where, for instance, they will be used for supplying ammunition to frontline combat units, e.g. artillery batteries.
Identical operator interfaces and a high degree of commonality and component uniformity with the UTF vehicle family facilitate training, operations and logistics. Owing to the significant reduction in training time for crewmembers and maintenance personnel as well as the extensive commonality of spare parts and special tools, full utilization can be achieved faster coupled with greater economic efficiency for the procurement authorities and user alike. Especially when it comes to multinational operations, the extensive global presence of RMMV vehicles offers major advantages with regard to interoperability and logistics. This new order widens Rheinmetall’s lead as one of the world’s foremost makers of logistic systems and vehicles. Since the award of the 7-year UTF framework by BAAINBw on 5 July 2017, 1,250 out of a total of 2271 vehicles have already been shipped. Most of the principal components are made in Germany; assembly of the vehicles takes place at the RMMV plant in Vienna.
Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) forms the competence center for professional military and militarised logistic wheeled vehicles within Rheinmetall’s Vehicle Systems division. The Munich-based joint venture, in which Rheinmetall AG holds 51 % and MAN Truck & Bus SE 49 %, is one of the world’s leading providers of defense solutions in the field of logistic land mobility. Together with its predecessor companies, RMMV looks back on a history of more than 100 years of truck construction for very demanding military applications. The main competence center for the production of protected and unprotected logistic vehicles such as the HX vehicle family is the production plant in Vienna. There, the highly mobile trucks are developed, produced and delivered to military customers throughout the world.
