For the Bundeswehr, national and alliance defence today means that NATO’s eastern flank is no longer in the centre of its own country. Instead, the possible operational areas are located more than a thousand kilometres to the east. The German Army will therefore deploy three categories of forces in the future. These include the light forces, primarily infantry such as infantrymen, paratroopers, and mountain troops. They can be deployed rapidly over long distances by air. This defines them as the “forces of the first hour” in the theatre of operations or predestines them for evacuation operations. However, due to their equipment, they can only be deployed for a limited period of time. The heavy forces primarily include armoured and mechanised infantry troops. With their Leopard 2 main battle tanks and Puma infantry fighting vehicles, they have a high level of firepower and protection. This allows them to take on armoured or mechanised troops. However, they are limited in speed over long distances. The new medium forces are now foreseen to fill the gap between the light and heavy forces.

Innovation driver

The German Army quotes that “medium forces move and fight on wheels”. They are supposed to be able to deploy rapidly and without long preparation times throughout NATO’s European theatre of operations with wheeled, highly mobile formations. This means for the first unit of the medium forces, with the “working title” Dragoon Brigade 21 “Lipperland” stationed in Augustdorf, that an operational area about 1,500 kilometres away in the Baltic States needs to be reached within a few days, and – if necessary – to be in combat there immediately.

There are no doctrines for this completely new category of forces in the Bundeswehr. These are currently being developed with a great deal of innovative spirit, including an “Infantry Combat Manual for Medium Forces”. Among other things, it deals with the mounted and dismounted combat of the infantry. For the infantry, the “alternating fighting mode” customary with the armoured infantry is hitherto unknown.

The medium forces are regarded as “drivers of innovation” not only in conceptual, but also in material terms. Their main system is the proven armoured vehicle GTK Boxer*. Thanks to its modular design consisting of a driving module and mission module, the Boxer can be configured for a wide range of functions. The Bundeswehr currently has four variants: armoured personnel carrier, command vehicle, heavy protected field ambulance, and driving school vehicle. Further versions have already been ordered: a wheeled infantry fighting vehicle with the crewless turret of the Puma IFV, the Skyranger 30 air defence vehicle – also supplied by Rheinmetall – and the Infantry Heavy Weapon Carrier. The army intends to continue procuring wheeled howitzers, wheeled mortar systems, armoured transport vehicles, wheeled engineer capabilities, and other wheeled systems in all troop types so that the medium forces can achieve their full operational scheme.

Agile and remote capability

The Infantry Heavy Weapon Carrier is a core element of the medium forces. With its 30mm automatic cannon MK30-2 ABM, it can provide direct fire support for the dismounted infantrymen. It also has two anti tank guided missiles (“mehrrollenfähige leichte Lenkflugkörpersysteme”, MELLS) ready for firing. Given 14 weapon carriers in the heavy company of a medium fusilier battalion, this amounts to 28. The unit, moving rapidly in an operational theatre, can thus take out enemy armoured troops – without direct line of sight. Agility and remote capability therefore characterise the combat style of the medium forces.

Australia involved

The Infantry Heavy Weapon Carrier is based on the Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle (CRV), the wheeled armoured reconnaissance vehicle of the Australian Army. To provide the army with the required combat vehicles as quickly as possible, Rheinmetall is integrating not only the German, but also the Australian sites into the production. The vehicles intended for the Bundes-wehr will be mass-produced using production capacities at Rheinmetall’s state-of-the-art Military Vehicle Competence Centre of Excellence (MILVEHCOE) in Redbank in south-east Queensland. They will then be shipped from Down Under to the German Army.

* The Boxer is a product of Artec GmbH, a joint venture between Rheinmetall and KNDS Deutschland.