Rheinmetall wins German Army C-IED vehicle award

Rheinmetall has announced that it has been awarded a €37 million contract to supply seven Fuchs/Fox armoured vehicles specially configured for detecting and identifying roadside bombs and mines to the German Army. The company will supply a new Fuchs/Fox variant known as the KAI for the contract between November 2013 and November 2014.

The vehicles will provide a vital route clearance capability to the German Army, enhancing the force’s ability to find and neutralise improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from the safety of an armoured fighting compartment.

According to Rheinmetall, the German Army currently relies on troops equipped with manual devices for keeping routes of march and lines of advance free from roadside bombs – procedures that are labour and time intensive, as well potentially dangerous. As IEDs are expected to remain a serious threat to troops in current and future theatres, the KAI will allow more troops to remain out of harm’s way.

The Fuchs/Fox KAI features a multiple-joint, high-precision manipulator arm with a 10-metre reach and heavy lifting capacity. The manipulator arm makes it possible for EOD personnel to examine and identify unexploded ordnance and IEDs with extreme precision from a safe standoff without leaving the safety of the fighting compartment. A special rescue platform can also be used for evacuating personnel and equipment from the danger zone.

The Fuchs/Fox vehicle used for the KAI platform is the latest version of this 6x6 wheeled vehicle, with added modular protection features, a reinforced chassis and fragment-reducing spall liner in the interior of the fighting compartment.

In addition, the Fuchs/Fox 1A8 is equipped with highly effective anti-landmine and IED protection elements, special suspended seating that keeps the crew’s feet off the floor of the hull, textile rifle holders and nets for securing all wall-mounted equipment. As an option, the vehicles can also be outfitted with the Group’s Active Defence System (ADS), which neutralises incoming projectiles just before impact.

Rheinmetall said that the army plans to deploy the Fuchs/Fox KAI in Afghanistan starting in the 4th quarter of 2014, as even in a drawdown scenario there are numerous vehicle movements, and countering the threat from booby traps and roadside bombs will remain a vital requirement.