Since the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, military aid from NATO countries, including Spain, has been incessant. However, the complex logistics of material deliveries, centralized in Polandhas in many cases delayed the arrival of vehicles such as the Leopard and Abrams tanks. The other constant is the delivery of equipment close to reaching its useful life cycle, such as Soviet veterans donated by Slovakia, which in some cases has left Ukrainian forces at a distinct disadvantage compared to to the latest developments in the country governed by Vladimir. Poutine.
That’s why it’s so important the opening of a factory of the German arms giant Rheinmetall on Ukrainian soil. Although the facilities will initially focus on repairing military vehicles, they are expected to soon shift to large-scale production of armored vehicles. And the first to roll off its assembly lines will be the Lynx, an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), production of which has already begun.
“We are fully committed to supporting Ukraine’s defense industry, ensuring that essential equipment can be produced and maintained in the country,” said Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall, speaking to TSN. This includes, in addition to the first armored vehicles that will begin to be delivered in December this yearother facilities such as a munitions factory and a factory specializing in the production of gunpowder.
In addition to significantly reducing the time between the signing of the agreement and the delivery of weapons, this decision will allow Ukraine to benefit from the qualities of one of the most modern armored vehicles, a modular concept that makes it compatible with a wide variety of missions. In its most powerful version (Lynx 120), it sports a huge 120 mm cannon, but it can also be configured as a vehicle with command and control, reconnaissance or even medical evacuation functions.
Rheinmetall is also working on an autonomous Lynx, as part of the OMFV (optionally piloted combat vehicle) program that the US army launched to replace the Bradley combat vehicle. The American subsidiary of the German company raises add an unmanned turret and prowler drone launcher to the Lynx.
A modular tank
The demands of the modern battlefield versatile and easily reconfigurable weaponrycapable of fulfilling different types of missions and facilitating maintenance and interoperability. Rheinmetall kept these needs in mind during the development phase of the Lynx family, a tracked armored vehicle designed to “provide maximum freedom of action”. Its design “enables exceptional mobility, collects, analyzes and disseminates data, and creates windows of opportunity to respond to battlefield threats with flexibility and efficiency,” according to their own website.
Its first public appearance was in 2016, when its lightest configuration, called KF31 (KF is the acronym for Kettenfahrzeugwhich means “tracked vehicle” in German). A few years later, the German company unveiled the KF41, larger and with some updateslike the Lance 2.0 turret and the ability to reconfigure it into a command and control variant.
The Lynx KF41 demonstrates its great mobility on different types of terrain
Omicrono
The platform has generated great interest from various countries, such as Australia, Greece, Romania and the United States, although the first to exploit it will be Hungary, which received last August the first units of a contract for 218 vehicles. However, everything indicates that Ukraine will be the pioneer country in its use on the battlefield. Regardless, Rheinmetall continued to work on new variants, such as the Combat Support Vehicle (CSV) or the Lynx 120, with the same chassis as the KF41 but with a 120mm gun in the turret. inhabited.
Behind the platform lies a key concept common to all variants, which guarantees its modularity and rapid adaptability. The Lynx has two distinct parts: the base vehicle, which ranges from 30 to 45 tonnes, and the specialized equipment. Thus, on the same propulsion model, the different mission equipment is installed, with the ability to switch from one to the other once deployed in just 8 hours.
The two main configurations are the KF31 and the KF41. The first weighs up to 38 tonnes, is equipped with an 18-liter Liebherr diesel engine, with a power of 755 hp and a maximum speed of 65 km/h. For its part, the KF41 variant, with more capacity, reaches 45 tonnes and its engine increases power to 1,140 HP, which allows it to reach 70 km/h. The cabin is designed to the driver, commander and turret operator, plus 6 or 8 soldiersdepending on the configuration.
Mobility, protection and attack
Mobility was one of the priorities in the design of the Lynx, allowing it to tackle slopes of up to 60% or climb vertical obstacles 1 meter high. It can also cross 2.5 meter ditches and has an operational range of 500 kilometers.
Spike LR2 guided missile firing demonstration from a Lynx KF41
As for the armor, it is made of ballistic steel and includes double hull reinforcement capable of mitigating damage caused by explosions. Protection can be extended with additional metal and ceramic elements to resist 25mm armor-piercing projectiles at distances of 500 meters. It also has protection against the explosion of devices containing up to 10 kg of TNT and can optionally have an active protection system (APS) Strike Shield, designed to counter anti-tank threats.
The crew of armored vehicles can be very vulnerable, as demonstrated by the catastrophic design flaw of Russian tanks, which allows them to be easily “decapitated”, and to avoid this, Rheinmetall has strengthened its security. He the personnel compartment is isolated from the ammunition storagein addition to offering a very large space inside the cabin. This ensures that even if a section is compromised, the crew is still protected from direct damage.
In terms of armament, the KF31 rises a stabilized automatic cannon of 30 mm or 35 mm caliber, with a maximum range of 3,000 metersboth static and moving. Its controlled rate of fire is 200 rounds per minute. Additionally, it has a 7.62mm Rheinmetall coaxial machine gun (RMG), with a maximum rate of fire of 800 rounds per minute. As an option, the Lynx can also integrate an anti-tank guided missile launcher, which can accommodate two Spike-LRs.
For its part, the KF41 has an updated Lance 2.0 turret, which provides better protection against kinetic and fragmentation threats. In addition, it can integrate the WOTAN 35 cannon, with greater range and penetration than 30mm cannons. He also has two flexible mission modules mounted on either side of the turretwhere subsystems such as Rafael’s twin Spike LR2 ATGMs, a small drone launcher or an electronic warfare package can be installed.
