The German armed forces have commissioned Rheinmetall to supply 57 heavy-duty semitrailer tractors with a payload class of 70 tonnes (SaZgM 70t mil). The order value for the 57 vehicles is just over €50 million. Delivery will take place between 2023 and 2024. The HX81 tractor unit has an eight-cylinder diesel engine with 680 hp.…
The Bundestag’s Budget Committee has approved the delivery of fifty more Puma tanks to the Bundeswehr. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) sees a need for the weapon system in view of the changed security situation. “Bit by bit, the Puma is replacing the Mader, which is now forty years old,” Pistorius explained. Compared to its…
AFCEA trade exhibition, often referred to as the “Green CeBIT”, began today at the World Congress Center in Bonn. Most of the participants agreed on one point: more needs to be done in the digitalisation of Bundeswehr. While the so called White IT is at a good level thanks to the BWI, the Green IT…
Procurement in the Bundeswehr continues to falter, including ammunition. “We have given around 20 million rounds for firearms to Ukraine,” names Florian Hahn, Member of German Parliament, one example. This ammunition has still not been reordered and the soldiers are the ones who will suffer from this lack of decision-making, as they have to fulfil…
Last week, high-ranking representatives from BMVg, BAAINBw and German Navy tested the possibilities and capabilities of ship-based laser weapons at sea. The corresponding demonstrator is located on frigate Sachsen. On August 30, this frigate was the first German Navy ship to successfully deploy a laser weapon. The target at the time was a drone. Since…
Procurement reform is almost as old as Bundeswehr and to claim that its protracted nature has only become a problem in this millennium misses the point. Take the Starfighter affair, Jäger 90, transformation of the BWB into the BAAINBw. In addition, there were many rule changes, CPM (nov.) was introduced to speed up processes –…
Last week the Cyber Innovation Hub of the Bundeswehr (CIHBw) opened a centre for intrapreneurship. This will be the central contact point for soldiers to push their ideas and an important step in the further development of innovation work in the German armed forces. The new centre will provide soldiers with necessary skills to drive…
Succession of TPz Fuchs armoured personnel carrier is set: Today, Germany officially joined the Common Armoured Vehicle System (CAVS) programme with the signing of the Technical Arrangement (TA). The foundation stone was laid with signing of Memorandum of Understanding on June 14, 2022. CAVS are 6×6 wheeled vehicles from Finnish company Patria, which will replace…
Last week, the German Navy published its vision for the Navy 2035+, the subheading of which is “Energetic entry into unmanned systems and artificial intelligence”. The need to deter Russian aggression requires German Navy to maintain a high level of combat readiness and presence in the North Atlantic as well as in the North and…
It can be called a special moment in both senses: Almost simultaneously with the integration of the Dutch 13th Light Brigade into the German 10th Armoured Division came the official interdepartmental approval by the government from Den Hague: The Netherlands as a Partner nation of the BSC 2023. With the ceremony on March 30, 2023,…