The Bundeswehr wants to better equip its “medium forces”. The arms company Rheinmetall has landed an order worth billions.
The federal government is buying 123 wheeled armored vehicles from the arms company Rheinmetall. The Düsseldorf-based company and the Bundeswehr Procurement Office announced on Thursday that the contract volume, including services, amounts to around 2.7 billion euros. Delivery is scheduled to begin in 2025 and last until 2030. The “Heavy Weapons Carrier Infantry”, as the vehicle type is called, is intended to replace the Wiesel mini-tank, which is used in infantry units for fire support.
The wheeled armored vehicles are mainly manufactured by a Rheinmetall subsidiary in Australia, where the German arms company has around 900 employees. The money comes from the Bundeswehr’s special fund worth 100 billion euros, which was set up after the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022.
Wheeled tank is intended to support “medium forces”.
“In order to be able to provide the army with the combat vehicles it needs as quickly as possible, we are integrating not only our German but also our Australian locations into our Rheinmetall network,” said Rheinmetall boss Armin Papperger. In Australia, Rheinmetall is the largest supplier of military vehicles to the armed forces there.
According to the Bundeswehr, the so-called intermediate forces, newly created in 2021, will receive the wheeled tank. These are “highly mobile units” that should be “deployable quickly and without long preparation times throughout NATO’s European operational area.” They should deploy “a lot of personnel and powerful weapons” – even over longer distances.
Wheeled tank on four axles
According to Rheinmetall, the “Heavy Weapons Carrier Infantry” is based on the frame of the Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle (CRV) wheeled tank with four axles. The Australian armed forces are already using the device. The combat vehicle is equipped with a two-man turret that has a machine cannon and a machine gun. To defend against tanks, the wheeled tank is built with a light guided missile system.
The Russian attack on Ukraine brought about an economic turnaround for Western arms companies like Rheinmetall. The industry is now needed more to strengthen the Bundeswehr and the troops of the NATO countries.