First Lynx Infantry Fighting Vehicle Assembled In Hungary Rolled Out
The first KF41 Lynx infantry fighting vehicle to be assembled at Rheinmetall’s Hungarian production line was officially completed on Wednesday.
A ceremony at the Rheinmetall facility in Zalaegerszeg was held to commemorate the milestone, with Hungarian defense minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky saying that the plant and other projects like Rheinmetall’s Várpalota ammunition production facility would allow the Hungarian defense industry to become a significant contributor to the country’s economy.
Szalay-Bobrovniczky described the Lynx as from “another universe” when compared to the Soviet-era BTR-80 armored personnel carriers it will eventually replace, adding that the Hungarian Land Forces will require high quality soldiers to operate the Lynxes and other sophisticated equipment.
Hungary became the Lynx’s launch customer in 2020 with a contract for the purchase of 209 Lynxes, and took delivery of its first made-in-Germany Lynx in October 2022. 172 of these Lynxes will be built at the Zalaegerszeg plant, with low rate initial production work on the first Lynx starting in January 2023. Rheinmetall is targeting a production rate of 50 Lynxes a year once the plant is fully operational.
Command post, reconnaissance, joint fire observer, mortar carrier, field ambulance vehicles and driver training-configured Lynxes will serve alongside the infantry fighting vehicle version in the Hungarian Army. Budapest has also given Rheinmetall an initial contract for the development of an air defense variant of the Lynx, with the effort exploring the integration of Rheinmetall’s Skyranger 30 anti-air turret onto the Lynx.
Rheinmetall is offering a variant of the Lynx for the United States’ XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle program, the U.S. Army’s effort to replace the M2 and M3 Bradley, in addition to offers to Italy and Romania. The Greek government approved the possible purchase of Lynxes in February 2023, but Athens has yet to officially sign a purchase contract. Rheinmetall is also seeking to create a production line in Ukraine to build Lynxes for the Ukrainian Army.