Hungary will become the first customer of Rheinmetall’s new Lynx infantry fighting vehicle. Hungary will buy 218 Lynx KF41 vehicles and pay more than $2 billion.

Rheinmetall’s U.S. $2.4 billion contract with the Hungarian government, signed in Budapest, is for 218 Lynx KF41 vehicles, nine Buffalo armoured recovery vehicles, as well as spares and simulators, the company wrote in a statement. The Lynx vehicles will be equipped with Rheinmetall’s manned Lance 30mm turret.

Production is slated for two phases, with the first 46 Lynx copies and the nine Buffalos to be built in Germany and delivered by early 2023. The second batch of 172 Lynx vehicles will then roll off a future production line in Hungary, for which the company established a joint venture with the Hungarian government last month.

Rheinmetall’s newest vehicle is also in the running in the Czech Republic as well as Australia.

Rheinmetall presented its new Lynx KF41 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) to the international public at Eurosatory 2018 for the first time. 

The Lynx comes in two versions (KF stands for “Kettenfahrzeug”, which means tracked vehicle in German):

Lynx KF31: Weighing up to 38 tonnes, Lynx KF31 can seat 3+6 soldiers

Lynx KF41: is slightly larger and can carry 3+8 soldiers

The Lynx KF41 can 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 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.