September 14, 2020 | International, Land
COLOGNE, Germany — Rheinmetall announced it has found the first-ever taker for its new Lynx infantry fighting vehicle, with Hungary buying 218 copies for more than $2 billion.
Company executives celebrated the order as a key deal for the company, following an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Army's Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle replacement program last year.
“The Lynx's market breakthrough is a major success for us,” Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said in a statement. “And the fact that we were able to convince Hungary — an important EU and NATO partner — to choose this innovative vehicle makes this success all the greater.”
Hungary has been on a military shopping spree recently, with billions of dollars spent on American missile-defense weaponry and German Leopard 2 tanks in the most modern configuration.
At the same time, the government of Prime Minister Victor Orban is at odds with much of the European Union over its curbing of press freedoms and sidelining parliamentary oversight under the pretext of a state of emergency in response to the spread of COVID-19.
Rheinmetall's €2 billion (U.S. $2.4 billion) contract with the Hungarian government, signed in Budapest, is for 218 Lynx KF41 vehicles, nine Buffalo armored recovery vehicles, as well as spares and simulators, the company wrote in a statement. The Lynx vehicles will be equipped with Rheinmetall's manned Lance 30mm turret.
Production is slated for two phases, with the first 46 Lynx copies and the nine Buffalos to be built in Germany and delivered by early 2023. A second batch of 172 Lynx vehicles will then roll off a future production line in Hungary, for which the company established a joint venture with the Hungarian government last month.
Rheinmetall's newest vehicle is also in the running in the Czech Republic as well as Australia, where the company has something of a lock on much of the land modernization program.
February 12, 2024 | International, Security
There was a "keep calm and carry on" atmosphere outside the House of Commons on Monday as a political storm blew up over Donald Trump's threat to encourage Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to NATO members he thinks aren't paying their fair share of the cost of collective defence.
July 28, 2023 | International, Naval
Twenty-five U.S. Republican lawmakers urged President Joe Biden on Thursday to increase funding for the country's submarine fleet, citing the recent three-nation AUKUS project to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines and concern about China's increasing military might.
June 7, 2019 | International, Naval
Please be advised that, in respect to the Defence and Security Accelerator competition: developing the Royal Navy's autonomous underwater capability, Dstl Commercial Services have offered a commercial clarification in respect to industry queries around the agreement of a Limitation of a Contractor's Liability to the proposed Framework Agreement: It is not possible to request a Limit of a Contractor's Liability (LoCL) under a Framework Agreement because it is impossible to calculate an appropriate LoCL amount with such a broad scope of work. Requests for a LoCL to the overarching framework agreement will be turned down, and proposals that include such requests will be deemed to be commercially non-compliant and excluded from the competition. However, in the event of placement of any Framework Agreement as a result of this Themed Competition, under the Tasking element of the aforementioned Framework Agreement (Item 2 of the proposed Framework Agreement only) on a Task by Task basis we will consider the risks associated with that Task and may consider it appropriate to agree a LoCL against that specific task only. This does not apply to Item 1 of the proposed Framework Agreement. Requests for a LoCL against Item 1 of the Framework Agreement will not be considered and proposals that include them excluded from the competition. Please be advised that this clarification explicitly applies to the Defence and Security Accelerator competition: developing the Royal Navy's autonomous underwater capability only. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/developing-the-royal-navys-autonomous-underwater-capability-commercial-clarification