The Hungarian Land Forces have announced that the first battalion of 45 KF41 Lynx infantry fighting vehicles is nearing initial operational readiness. This update was shared during the IAV 2025 international conference, held from January 21 to 23 in Farnborough, United Kingdom.
The deliveries are part of a €2 billion contract signed in 2020 with Rheinmetall for the supply of 218 KF41 Lynx vehicles in various configurations. Thus, the formation of this first battalion has taken 4.5 years since the contract's signing.
Read more: Media Reports Ukraine Receives 10 KF41 Lynx IFVs from Rheinmetall, Not Just One, Why It's Important
These new IFVs are intended to replace the approximately 500 BMP-1 vehicles Hungary decommissioned in 2003 and the BTR-80A APCs, of which 66 were sold to Serbia, leaving about 60 in Hungarian service.
The contract is divided into two production stages. The first involves producing 46 KF41 Lynx vehicles, partly manufactured in Germany at Rheinmetall’s facilities and partly at the newly established Rheinmetall Hungary Zrt. plant in Zalaegerszeg. This phase also includes the delivery of nine Buffalo recovery vehicles based on the Leopard 2 tank chassis.
The second phase will see the production of 172 Lynx units, all assembled in Hungary, including specialized variants such as reconnaissance vehicles, self-propelled mortars, and ambulance vehicles. Hungary is also exploring the possibility of integrating an air defense system onto the Lynx platform, potentially incorporating the Skyranger 30 turret system, an innovation Defense Express has mentioned previously.
The first KF41 Lynx vehicles under the contract arrived from Germany in 2022, while local production commenced only in 2024. So far, 20 Hungarian-made units have been delivered.
During testing in Hungary, several technical issues were identified and promptly resolved by Rheinmetall. In particular, they added an emergency opening system for the ramp and roof hatch in the rear.
Besides hardware, challenges arose with the crews operating the new IFVs. For example, the personnel had a hard time transitioning from the simpler BTR-80A vehicles to technologically more sophisticated KF41 Lynx.
Speaking of hardware, the KF41 Lynx has the following specifications:
- Combat weight: 44 tons
- Engine: Liebherr D9612, 1463 hp
- Road speed: 70 km/h
- Crew: Three personnel plus up to eight infantry
- Armament: 30-mm automatic cannon, coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun, and Israeli-made Spike LR2 ATGM
The vehicle also features the StrikeShield active protection system, capable of intercepting threats such as anti-tank guided missiles, man-portable anti-tank weapons like the RPG-7, and, according to Rheinmetall, even APFSDS armor-piercing projectiles. Additionally, KF41 Lynx incorporates battle management systems, effectively transforming it into a command center of an infantry unit.
Worth adding, one or more KF41 Lynx vehicles were recently delivered to Ukraine for testing, with discussions underway about starting supplies of locally produced Lynx IFVs to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Read more: Since Ukraine Got KF41 Lynx For Testing, Let's Recall its Specs and Mass Production Prospects
