Rheinmetall, Kraus-Maffei win 198.3 mln EUR German army vehicle contract

DUESSELDORF (AFX) – Rheinmetall DeTec AG said a 50/50 joint venture between it and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, in which Siemens AG has a stake, have won a contract worth 198.3 mln eur to develop a new armoured infantry vehicle for the German army, after the parliamentary budget committee agreed to the project.
The new vehicles will be called “Igel” (hedgehog) and will replace the
existing Marder armoured infantry carriers, which have been in use for over 30 years, said a defence ministry spokesman.
The new vehicles will be used by troops in conflicts such as in the Balkans and Afghanistan.
The spokesman said the army intends to acquire some 410 tanks, with the first 20 to be delivered in 2005.
Analysts say Germany is likely to end up spending about 6 mln eur apiece for a boxy vehicle with eight passenger seats and a crew of three.
Separately, German defence minister Peter Struck of the SPD party said the budget committee did not discuss the purchase of 73 Airbus’ A400M military planes and the arming of the Eurofighter combat plane with Meteor air-to-air missiles.
The defence minister said a decision will be made after the elections on Sept 22.
“You can assume that the Meteor and A400M will be further pursued,” said Struck.
This morning, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported the British
government will only go ahead with the A400M project if Germany signs up to the Meteor project by Sept 30.