On July 21, the Lynx KF41 Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) was recently in Avlonas, Greece on request of the Hellenic Armed Forces. During a vehicle demonstration, the Lynx KF41 gave an impressive performance. Rheinmetall has offered to set up a production line in Greece for Lynx KF41 armoured fighting vehicles if the Hellenic Army selects it as its replacement infantry fighting vehicle for the now aging M113s and BMP-1s. The offer also includes a production line for upgrading the existing Leopard 2A4 main battle tank of the Hellenic Army to the 2A7+ main battle tank standard. Rheinmetall also has offered the supply of used Marder 1A3 tracked armored infantry fighting vehicles.
The Lynx is a German armoured fighting vehicle developed by Rheinmetall Landsysteme (part of Rheinmetall’s Vehicle Systems division). According to Rheinmetall, the Lynx family of tracked armoured vehicles is at the forefront of a new trend in IFV design toward armoured vehicles with lower unit and through-life costs and reduced complexity. One of the key principles of the Lynx concept is the integration of proven sub-systems with a high technology readiness level to reduce development time, cost and technical risk. The KF41 variant was unveiled publicly at the Eurosatory defence exhibition on 12 June 2018.
The infantry fighting vehicle variant of the KF41 (Kettenfahrzeug 41) variant fitted with the updated Lance 2.0 turret, this having flexible mission pods fitted on the left and right sides so that a variety of subsystems can be installed to provide the turret with specialist capabilities. Lance turret mounting a stabilized, externally powered, autocannon of 30 mm or 35 mm caliber, with airburst munition support. This allows the Lynx to engage targets at ranges of up to 3,000 meters, both when static and when on the move. Mounted coaxial to the right is the latest Rheinmetall Machine Gun (RMG) 7.62 mm, which can fire standard 7.62 × 51 mm NATO ammunition.
The KF41 has a maximum permissible gross vehicle weight of up to 50 tonnes. The Lynx is built around a sponson-shaped hull with a long, shallow glacis and angled belly plate. The infantry fighting vehicle can carry a crew of three plus eight passengers. The Lynx’s overall design layout is conventional, the front right located powerpack consisting of a Liebherr D9612 diesel engine coupled to either an Allison X300 series 6F/1R or Renk HSWL 256 automatic transmission. It is powered by an 850 kW (1,140 hp) engine and has a top speed of 70 km/h (43 mph). The KF41 is being offered to the Australian Army for the Land 400 program.
