The Bundeswehr has placed a further order at Rheinmetall for heavy tractor units. By this, the forces are to receive additional 56 Elefant 2 heavy-duty transporters. Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) will deliver the vehicles in 2026 and 2027. The contract is worth approximately 60.5 million EUR gross. The Bundeswehr had initially awarded a framework contract for the supply of up to 137 vehicles, ordering the first 32 Elefant 2 under this agreement. The framework contract ran for seven years and included the option to order further Elefant 2 vehicles with a total contract value of EUR 122 million gross, which were to be delivered by early 2025. Due to increased demand, this framework contract has now been extended once again to include a further 56 vehicles.
The HX81 Elefant 2 SaZgM (“Sattelzugmaschine”) is equipped with an eight-cylinder diesel engine producing 680 hp. This allows the highly mobile all-wheel-drive truck to reach a top speed of 89 km/h and climb gradients of up to 60 percent. The technically permissible gross combination weight is 130 tons. The Elefant 2 features the same driver’s cab as the UTF family. The cab can be replaced with a protected version if required. The vehicle is also equipped with a Rotzler twin winch system, each winch with a pulling force of 20 tons. The HX81 Elefant 2 marked a new addition to the Bundeswehr’s heavy-lift transport (SLT) fleet.
The first unprotected Elefant 2 heavy-duty transporter is scheduled for delivery in 2019, with a further 31 vehicles to follow in 2020. The order value for these first 32 vehicles amounts to approximately €28.5 million gross. The framework agreement runs for seven years and includes an option for the delivery of a further 105 Elefant 2 vehicles. This results in a total order value of €122 million gross for 137 vehicles. The unarmoured Elefant 2 thus complements the armoured heavy-lift transporter Mammut, which was also supplied by RMMV. The transport of heavy combat vehicles is a key capability, particularly in view of Germany’s role as a logistical hub in NATO’s collective defence The unarmoured Elefant 2 thus complements the armoured heavy-lift transporter Mammut, which was also supplied by RMMV.
The HX family are a range of purpose-designed tactical military trucks manufactured by Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV). The HX range replaced the earlier FX and LX ranges in production. The HX2 range, which as of 2024 complements the original HX range, was announced in 2012. The designation system most commonly applied to HX range trucks is that of MAN/RMMVs internal model designation. There is no sequencing within model designations, and from the three original HX models released, the HX60 was a 4×4 chassis, the HX58 was a 6×6 chassis, and the HX77 an 8×8 chassis. On HX2 range models an additional M (Military) is included in model designation, while the HX is dropped from individual model nomenclature. The current HX2 designations are 40M (4×4), 42M (6×6), 44M (8×8), and 45M (10x×0). There is also the HX81, a Heavy Equipment Transporter (HET) that is technically a HX/HX2 hybrid.
