Germany will equip its special operations forces with up to 200 TAHR tactical airborne buggies. A seven-year framework agreement was signed with Flensburg Technology Systems GmbH a joint company of Germany's FFG and Israel's state firm IAI.
According to Hartpunkt, funds are already allocated for the first phase, which includes an order for 40 vehicles in the operational-combat variant and another 14 in the support vehicle variant. Documentation, a set of special tools and other services worth €30 million are also included.
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Delivery deadlines run through 2028, which is quite long for such a small number of vehicles though time may be needed to deploy local production lines and prepare supply chains.
TAHR is based on the Israeli ZD buggy, which won the competition for Germany's needs. It features a 4x4 configuration, a combat weight up to 3.1 tonnes, an open bed and a rollover protection frame.
All of this will be adapted to German military requirements and, given FFG's involvement, will likely include some local industrial localization. The vehicle is intended to fill the mobility niche after an airborne insertion.
The EGF variant a light airborne operational-combat vehicle will have three crew seats and an electrified mount for a 12.7-mm machine gun or an automatic grenade launcher. It is designed as a primary workhorse for special operators. The UstgFzg support variant will carry only two people and will not have weapon mounts; its main role will be logistics and transport of cargo.
While some countries, like the United States, are moving away from traditional armored vehicles toward buggies, Germany like many others is developing this capability for a specific niche that requires light transport. Ukraine also makes active use of buggies that provide very good off-road mobility, such as the Vols from Ukrainian Bronetechnika.
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