Trucks made by Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles – including the HX, TGS and TGM – are an indispensable asset in the armies of many nations. Countries like Germany, the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden and Australia use these tried-and-tested vehicles – many of them produced in Vienna’s Liesing district – for logistical missions of every kind. Last year, the Austrian Army joined the company’s growing list of major customers.

“This is a very special order”, declares Michael Wittlinger, chairman of the board of management of Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles, “and not just for our Vienna plant. It also underscores the Austrian government’s clear commitment to Austrian industry!” Major General -Harald -Vodosek, Austria’s National Armaments Director, concurs: “Rheinmetall’s Vienna plant plays a significant role in our security and defence industry. For the Austrian Army it’s very important to be able to rely on this kind of local defence industry presence.”

An enormous investment

The framework contract between Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles and Österreichischen Bundesbeschaffung GmbH Wien, Austria’s procurement agency, encompasses the delivery of various logistic vehicles for the Austrian Army. The contract runs for seven years and specifies the supply of up to 1,675 vehicles from the company’s HX, TGS and TGM lines. Last spring, Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles, or RMMV, already won all six military lots in a request for tenders for a total of 23 lots of trucks, with an additional lot awarded in December. Given the various technical specifications for each lot, the company proposed vehicles from its TGM, TGS and HX series in multiple axle configurations. On top of this came multifarious build-on systems such as cranes, platforms, tippers, roll-off systems, swap-body systems and snow ploughs. Order volume could be as high as EUR 845 million. “This is an enormous contract”, states Michael Wittlinger, “especially when you consider that Austria’s military is a lot smaller than Germany’s, for example. But it goes to show the importance the Austrian Army attaches to effective logistics.”

The Austrian Army was already an RMMV customer before 2023, but the relationship has now taken on an entirely new dimension. That Austria chose this moment to overhaul its military logistics comes as no surprise. “Developments in the security and defence policy arena in recent months and years show how important having a largely autarkic domestic defence capability can be. Being able to rely on powerful partners in the defence industry will help us respond to the challenges facing Europe in coming years”, notes Harald Vodosek.

Trucks made in Austria are a true success story. Ever since Rheinmetall and the truck maker MAN joined forces to found RMMV, numerous nations have found that they count on the joint venture’s versatile vehicles in a vast variety of logistical and tactical scenarios. Today, more than 20,000 trucks from the company’s HX series are in service worldwide. Typically, MAN delivers individual components such as engines, axles and transfer cases to the Vienna plant for complete assembly.

Without quality, no deal

Reflecting the request for tenders, which spe-cified vehicles for an extremely wide array of missions, the Austrian Army will soon be taking delivery of a correspondingly wide variety of new trucks. “We configure the vehicles in close consultation with the customer and make sure that the troops get the quality they’ve come to expect”, says Wittlinger. And it goes almost without saying that the Vienna plant is well prepared for this domestic order. Because one thing’s for sure: though Austria is obviously eager to safeguard local jobs, ultimately it was the quality of RMMV products that sealed the deal. Moreover, the fact that high-quality trucks are produced right in the country’s capital creates a win-win situation which RMMV and the Austrian Army both appreciate.

Finally, this major order is another big mor-ale booster for the RMMV factory staff in Vienna. “We owe our success first and foremost to the outstanding teamwork of everyone involved”, declares Michael Wittlinger. Confirmation for this came from the highest level, when the -Austrian Defence Minister, Klaudia Tanner, summed up her trip to the Vienna plant as follows: “I came away with an extremely positive impression of the plant, a centre of excellence for producing protected and unprotected military logistic vehicles which, as far as I’m concerned, is unique in Austria. I could clearly sense just how motivated the men and women who work there are.”