Canada orders 85 heavy recovery vehicles from Rheinmetall

15 November, 2024 Repair and evacuation vehicle from Rheinmetall Photo from the manufacturer The Canadian government has awarded Rheinmetall a major order for the production of 85 heavy recovery vehicles to the Canadian Armed Forces as part of the Enhanced Recovery Capability (ERC) project. The press service of the company reported on this.

The five-year purchase agreement, worth £325 million CAD (around EUR215 million), includes vehicles, recovery equipment, etc. A supplementary £28.9 million CAD (around EUR20 million) multi-year in-service support contract has also been awarded to Rheinmetall. The new heavy recovery vehicles will replace the fleet of Heavy Logistics Vehicle Wheeled (HLVW) evacuation vehicles, each of which is equipped with a towing and evacuation module.

The HLVW, based on the Austrian Steyr Percheron and developed as the UTDC 24M32, has been in service since 1990.

A Canadian Heavy Logistics Vehicle Wheeled (HLVW) based on Steyr 1491. Photo credits: Robert Lafreniere

The HLVW fleet is used to transport combat vehicles, cargo, troops and spare parts. These vehicles can hold from 10,000 kg to 16,000 kg of equipment depending on the variant and are used by regular forces and reserve field units, as well as during Canadian Army deployments abroad.

Canada is to receive the first vehicles from Rheinmetall in 2027. The main contractor is a local subsidiary of Rheinmetall Canada. The new HX heavy recovery vehicles also provide additional capabilities, such as an integrated rotary crane that can be used for container handling and for other crane work.

"The fleet upgrade will provide the Canadian Army's engineering units with the enhanced capabilities to effectively recover and tow heavy armored and logistics vehicles," Rheinmetall wrote in a press release.

In this way, the German company is expanding to the American continent, where previously the products of local companies or products manufactured by them under license prevailed.

Unloading a Rheinmetall HX3 CTT truck.

Photo credits: Rheinmetall

Another example of entering the North American market is that American Rheinmetall Vehicles, together with GM Defense LLC, presented three truck prototypes for the Common Tactical Truck (CTT) program.