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2020-09-01

Hungarian Armed Forces Announce JV With Rheinmetall

The government of Hungary has embarked on a programme worth over two billion Euros to modernise the country’s defence industry and military capabilities, with the signing of an agreement in Unterlüss on August 17.

The move was announced by Hungary’s Secretariat of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology and the Commissioner for Defence Development. Rheinmetall, an European maker of army equipment, will be cooperating with Hungary to create a joint venture (JV) and production facility in Hungary to manufacture the modern Lynx infantry fighting vehicle (IFV).

Hungary is the first NATO and EU member state to choose the Düsseldorf-based Group’s innovative new IFV. The step is of central importance in Hungary’s ongoing programme of military and industrial development, which aims to transform the Hungarian Army as quickly as possible into a world-class fighting force capable of actively addressing security challenges in the Euro-Atlantic region.

Future-proof Platform

Rheinmetall presented its new Lynx KF41 IFV to the international public at Eurosatory 2018 for the first time. Highly survivable, adaptable to diverse environments, agile, hard hitting, and with huge payload reserves, the Lynx KF41 is a next generation combat vehicle designed to confront the challenges of the future battlefield.

The IFV is more than just a new, highly advanced vehicle: it is a future-proof platform, blending protection with firepower and mobility in a uniquely modular concept.

The Lynx KF41 is a complete family of vehicles that utilises a common drive module and a flexible mission kit arrangement to allow any base vehicle to be configured as an IFV, an armoured personnel carrier, a command vehicle, a recovery vehicle or an ambulance. Changing from one configuration to another can occur within eight hours. This system provides significant total lifecycle cost savings due to base vehicle commonality, allowing customers to adjust force structures or develop new capabilities in an affordable and timely manner.

Enhancing the vehicle’s flexibility, the sub-systems of the Lynx KF41 are highly modular and adaptable. It features a digital backbone with a generic open architecture that allows easy integration of new mission systems, while the entire survivability system is modular and upgradable to allow the vehicle to cope with the highly adaptive threats faced on the battlefield. Different survivability kits are available for peacekeeping situations, counter-insurgency operations in urban terrain, and mounted combat against a peer.

Additionally, the Lynx KF41 features the latest generation of propulsion technology with an 850 kW (1140hp) Liebherr engine and a proven Renk transmission. A flexible suspension system has been developed by Supashock, an Australian company, meaning the Lynx can be configured to carry various mission kits and survivability packages without compromising mobility. When configured for mounted combat operations with the Lance 2.0 turret and a survivability package suitable for peer-on-peer combat, the Lynx KF41 weighs approximately 44 tonnes.

Furthermore, the modular survivability systems of the Lynx provide flexibility for customers to cope with the wide variety of threats faced across the spectrum of conflict.

The ballistic and mine protection packages can be easily exchanged, even in the field if needed, while the full spectrum of threats have been taken into account, including roof protection against cluster munitions. The Lynx KF41 with Lance 2.0 has been designed not only for passive and reactive systems, but also for an active protection system to defeat rocket-propelled grenades and antitank guided missiles.

Enhanced Protection

The Lance 2.0 turret is the next generation of the in-service Lance family and has been developed to improve its suitability for an IFV. It has various enhancements that provide a troop of Lynx KF41 vehicles with a very high level of organic capability, thus allowing the troop to have a disproportionate effect on the battlefield. The turret features enhanced protection for critical subsystems against kinetic and fragmentation threats, improving system survivability during close combat.

The next enhancement is the integration of the new Wotan 35 electrically driven cannon that fires Rheinmetall’s proven and in-service 35x228mm ammunition family.

Lastly, the Lance 2.0 has two flexible mission pods fitted to the left and right of the turret that allow installation of a variety of sub-systems to give the turret a specialist capability.

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