Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Netherland-based DEFENTURE have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to increase their cooperation for LuLa, a new airborne platform.
The airborne platform is part of the German Parliament-approved €100bn special fund to modernise the country’s military.
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Being developed under a German-Dutch procurement project, the LuLa system will replace the airborne forces’ existing vehicles.
Defenture CEO Henk van der Scheer said: “We are glad to be working with KMW, which has exceptional experience, competencies, and expertise as a systems house.”
The new system will be developed along the lines of Defenture’s Groundforce (GRF) system, which is already in service with the Netherlands’ military.
Verified by the Netherlands Army, the GRF is a military off-the-shelf platform.
Weighing 5t and having a payload of 2t, the air-transportable system is designed to fit in a CH-47F Chinook helicopter.
With integrated and modular ballistic protection, the platform also offers complete configuration freedom.
As per the agreement, KMW will be responsible for the equipment kits that can be changed without the need for special tools.
KMW CEO Ralf Ketzel said: “Our German-Dutch cooperation sets a strong signal that European cooperation can work, also in the participation of national industries, like in this German-Dutch procurement project.”
In September 2021, KMW and Defenture signed a letter of intent (LoI) to enter into a strategic cooperation.
The agreement followed the German Ministry of Defence’s plan to purchase new airborne platforms to replace 20-year-old vehicles of the airborne troops.
