Minneapolis – July 11, 2023 – Polaris Government and Defense has been awarded a contract to provide its DAGOR ultralight tactical vehicle to Romania. More than 50 of the off-road and internally transportable vehicles will deliver enhanced tactical mobility to Romanian Armed Forces for current and emerging threats. Romania, a NATO member country, will receive the vehicles via the U.S. government’s foreign military sales (FMS) program, which seeks to build up forces and allies around the world, most recently with an emphasis in the European Command (EUCOM). The contract also includes upfit and spare parts for the vehicles as well as operator and maintenance training, which will be conducted in-country by Polaris field service representatives.

Interoperability is critical in today’s conflicts, and the Polaris DAGOR provides platform commonality to the special mission community, with customers around the world including U.S. forces, Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM), multiple European militaries and additional global forces. Polaris military vehicles have become force multipliers for expeditionary forces by extending mission range while mitigating operator fatigue and increasing mission readiness and capability.

Proven and reliable DAGOR ultralight tactical vehicles provide exceptional off-road mobility, payload and transportability – carrying warfighters and their gear, for a total payload of up to 4,000 pounds (1,814 kilograms). DAGOR uses a readily available commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) driveline, controls and components like a diesel/JP8 engine selected for its ideal combination of power, weight and size.

The DAGOR has a flexible and modular design that allows it to fulfill numerous missions and be reconfigured with shifting environments and evolving threats. The open design of the cargo bed maximizes loading space, flexibility and access for mission-essential equipment. An increased ride height – even at full payload – provides better obstacle clearance and improves off-road mobility.

DAGOR’s unique design and use of commercial components allows for ease of operation, maintenance and sustainment in support of combat operations. DAGOR can also be rapidly deployed and maintains airdrop, sling-load and internal tactical air transportability on CH-47 and CH-53 helicopters as well as internal transport aboard C-130 Hercules.

Polaris delivers a unique offering to Romanian Armed Forces – the company’s expertise in off-road mobility produces military vehicles that are designed for austere environments, allowing Romanian warfighters to travel through harsher off-road conditions at full payload at a faster pace than any other vehicles in this class. Romanian Armed Forces also have Polaris MV850 all-terrain vehicles and MRZR turbo diesel ultralight all-terrain vehicles.

Arctic mobility is also crucial for expeditionary and special operations forces and these specialized teams around the world turn to Polaris and its snowmobiles and modified tactical vehicles. An Arctic Mobility Package is now available for the MRZR Alpha. The fully enclosed cab and tracks expand the environments the MRZR Alpha can operate in and increase an already wide range of terrain for which it is well-suited. Polaris Snowmobiles can extend the reach of the operators in environments that would usually take days to cover on foot. Snowmobiles are an invaluable tool in deep snow and snow-covered mountainous terrain, which is normally a challenge for large-scale military movements. Titan and Pro-RMK snowmobiles have been modified to include blackout drive, IR light, winch kit and tow hitches – further increasing the ability to navigate treacherous terrain and reach remote areas efficiently.

Polaris designs and manufactures the most capable light tactical military vehicles available today with technology development and insertion for the battlefield of tomorrow. No one knows light off-road mobility like Polaris. Polaris light tactical vehicles – the MV850, MRZR turbo diesel, Alpha and DAGOR – support more than 50 military forces which is a testament to the capability gap these vehicles fulfill. These platforms provide unmatched off-road capability while also being intuitive to operate, simple to maintain, highly transportable and easy to globally support.

The German and Dutch armed forces have contracted with Rheinmetall to supply up to 3,058 Caracal airmobile platforms. Worth up €1.9 billion, the multiyear framework contract includes up to 2,054 vehicles earmarked for Germany and 1,004 for the Netherlands.  As a first step, a firm order from the framework contract has been placed for 1,508 vehicles worth approximately €870 million, including value added tax. To finance the procurement project, Germany is drawing on the special fund set up last year for reequipping the Bundeswehr. 
The Caracal is the product of a partnership between Rheinmetall, Mercedes-Benz AG and Armoured Car Systems GmbH. Delivery of the first trial models is scheduled to take place as early as the first quarter of 2024, with the start of delivery in series planned for early 2025.  
A 4×4 all-wheel-drive vehicle, the Caracal is a mobile platform specially designed to meet the needs of airmobile formations and special operations forces. 

Procurement of the “Deployment System Airmobile Platform” is unfolding against the backdrop of the tense security situation and urgently required new capabilities for national and alliance defence. Owing to the close working relationship between the German and Dutch armed forces and the comparable requirement situation in both countries, the procurement project has been a bilateral one from the outset. 
The tendering process, which began in October 2022, was completed in two fast-paced proposal phases. In the end, Rheinmetall put forward the most economical proposal, with price and technical performance converging to overcome the remaining competitor. 

The Caracal is based on a commercial off-the-shelf chassis of the new G-model 464 series from Mercedes-Benz. In future Rheinmetall will therefore be able to offer users around the world a proven, technically mature platform, providing logistic support throughout the vehicle’s long service life. 

With the Caracal, Rheinmetall’s portfolio of tactical vehicle systems has expanded to embrace the lightweight, less-than-10-ton 4×4 segment, where the Düsseldorf-based tech enterprise sees strong growth potential. 

“Together with our partners Mercedes-Benz AG and Armoured Car Systems GmbH, we’re ready to roll and can advance quickly to full-scale, large-volume series production”, states Dr Björn Bernhard, managing director of Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH. “Final assembly of all German and Dutch vehicles will take place at our plant in Ede in the Netherlands and at VDL Special Vehicles B.V. in Eindhoven, our designated partner company. Having two assembly locations will let us quickly scale up production while simultaneously contributing to sustained value added in the Netherlands, our partner country”, notes Dr Bernhard. 

In July 2023, Jankel, a world-leader in the design, integration, manufacture, and support of high-specification vehicles and protection systems, is celebrating the delivery of over 500 Jankel Fox tactical vehicles, globally. The Jankel Fox product line is a family of tactical vehicles based on modified off-the-shelf Toyota base vehicles; either the Hilux or the 79 series pickup (single and double cab), depending on each customer’s s requirements.

The 500 vehicles have been designed, developed and built by Jankel in the UK where the IP resides, as well as being produced in collaboration with their French partners, Technamm who have built the French variant of the Jankel Fox Long Range Patrol Vehicle (LRPV), named ‘Jankel Fox by Masstech’. The vehicle was procured by the French MoD as part of the VPS2 urgent requirement in 2018. The vehicles are manufactured under license in France by Technamm at their Lambesc facility. In 2015, Jankel was awarded an internationally competed contract to supply 108 Jankel Fox 4×4 Rapid Reaction Vehicles (RRV) to the Belgium Ministry of Defence (BeMoD) for use by their Special Forces. The last of the BeMoD Jankel Fox RRVs rolled off the production line in 2020. Since then, Jankel has received a significant number of orders for Jankel Fox vehicles from undisclosed global customers in different variants, bringing the current total to over 500, supporting UK exports and jobs across a growing team of engineers and skilled technicians. The Jankel Fox vehicle is now in service and supported in: UK; USA; NZ; Romania; France; Belgium; Botswana; Oman; Jordan; South Korea; Brunei; Spain; Italy; Mauritania and Indonesia.

The Jankel Fox family comprises of three main role variants: Tactical Utility Vehicle (TUV); Rapid Reaction Vehicle (RRV) and Long Range Patrol Vehicle (LRPV) available in 4×4 and 6×6 variants. Jankel continue to spirally develop the platform in the UK with configurations and developments to integrate future mission systems across the Jankel Fox family. Jankel has designed and integrated upgrades to the off-the-shelf automotive platform systems including: suspension; drive train; brakes; transmission and power generation. The military integration then includes weapons, communications, ECM, modular armour, seating, tools and stowage. The vehicle is compliant with multiple international defence standards that include reliability, integration, service support, operating environments, towing, tie-downs, aircraft and helicopter transportation. The Jankel Fox has a crew of 2-6 and is used in a variety of roles including: command, reconnaissance, tactical patrol, fire-support, logistics, border patrol and anti-poaching. Jankel has also put in place a comprehensive global support solution that is delivering all aspects of in-service support to the range of customers now operating their Jankel Fox vehicles.

Andrew Jankel, Chairman at Jankel said: “this is an important milestone for Jankel as we see over 500 of our Jankel Fox tactical vehicles having been delivered to over fifteen end user groups. That’s a significant achievement creating UK-held Intellectual Property and enabling Jankel to further grow the team, creating and sustaining skilled engineering jobs. The programmes have demonstrated our flexibility in producing and exporting vehicles globally including through licensed manufacture in-country, to satisfy local build requirements “a model that can be replicated anywhere.” He added: “I think there are three main points to make about the Jankel Fox. 1) it’s an extremely capable and flexible platform that is now battle-proven on multiple operations. 2) our approach of using modified off-the-shelf base vehicles delivers the required capability but at an affordable price. 3) because the Jankel Fox is based on the world-renowned and supremely reliable Toyota chassis’, remote users can tap into a global support network literally, anywhere. At the same time, we’ve developed a comprehensive support solution to complement that.”