, In its 2006 armaments programme, the Swiss parliament approved the procurement of 12 armoured engineer and mine-clearing vehicles for the country's Armed Forces.
A procurement contract has now been signed by armasuisse and Thun-based RUAG Land Systems, the subsidiary of the RUAG technology group that is acting as general contractor. The vehicles will be delivered in 2010 and 2011.
The new armoured engineer vehicles (AEVs) will not be built completely from new, but using the chassis of surplus Pz87 Leopard tanks. RUAG and Rheinmetall Landsysteme of Kiel, Germany, are undertaking this repurposing project together.
RUAG is acting as general contractor, while Rheinmetall Landsysteme will have overall responsibility for the vehicles. The vehicles will be multifunctional, and it will be possible to set them up for AEV or mine clearance missions within a very short time. In AEV mode they will be suitable for filling ditches, fording rivers and restoring terrain to passable condition. The vehicles will also be suitable for civilian missions in the event of flooding, landslides or earthquakes.
The procurement contract that has now been signed encompasses 12 carrier vehicles, 12 AEV modules, 6 mine-clearing modules. It is worth a total of around CHF 95 million.
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