, BERNE, Switzerland: RUAG Land Systems, a subsidiary of the RUAG technology group, and its consortium partner Rheinmetall will be supplying their Kodiak armoured engineer vehicle to Sweden and Holland. The order is worth around 100 million euros.
The Swedish and Netherlands purchasing agencies have opted for the vehicles and fit-out offered by the RUAG and Rheinmetall consortium. The contracts, which are for ten systems for the Netherlands army and six for the Swedish, were signed on 16 January 2008. The vehicles will be delivered between 2011 and 2012.
The Kodiak is based on the chassis of the Leopard 2 battle tank. In addition to providing a heavy-duty vehicle for engineers on military or disaster relief missions, the Kodiak doubles up as a mine sweeper when fitted out with the appropriate module.
The jointly won order from two countries that have signed a bilateral agreement marks the commencement of a new and innovative path towards maximized cost efficiency. The harmonization of the Netherlands and Swedish procurement programmes applies particularly to vehicle configurations and standardized logistics.
The signing of the Dutch-Swedish contract brings to three the number of countries that have opted for RUAG and Rheinmetall's joint development. The Swiss Armed Forces commissioned the two companies to supply 12 carrier vehicles with AEV and mine clearance modules for its 2006 armaments programme.
RUAG AG
