Canadian Armed Forces Take Delivery of Two Buffalo Armored Recovery Vehicles

Released on Thursday, May 15, 2008

Job accomplished within just months: after only three months of conversion work, Rheinmetall's Vehicle Systems division in Kassel handed over two Buffalo (B�ffel) armored recovery vehicles (ARV) to the Canadian armed forces. Both vehicles had previously been used by the German Bundeswehr and are "on loan" to the Canadians; since September 2007, the vehicles have been helping the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in its fight against the Taliban in the southern province of Kandahar. The demand for the armored recovery vehicle that also has an NBC and fire extinguishing system came directly from the Hindu Kush where there is an urgent need for such ARVs to recover and tow tracked vehicles.

Following contract conclusion between the Canadian Army and Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH (RLS) in Kassel, conversion work on the Buffalo vehicle quickly got under way in May 2007; delivery was scheduled for August 2007 so that the Vehicle Systems division was left with very little time to modify the recovery vehicle in line with the Canadian requirements. A pragmatic solution that suited both parties had to be found quickly. "It was essential for us to optimize the quality and equipment of the armored vehicle such that it would survive even under extreme conditions. After all, the vehicle's prime task is to protect the crew members," remarks project manager Andreas Sch�nknecht, the ARV product manager.

More than 60 specialists knuckled down to implement the customer's requirements within a very short period of time. Requirements to be met involved enhanced mine protection, integration of the Canadian communication system, provision of a broader sweeping and support shield and stowage of equipment including large quantities of additional potable water. Another important focus was improved ballistic protection against rockets, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons and grenades.

New and unexpected challenges kept cropping up in the course of the project: for instance, a special fixture was needed to install the Canadian radio sets, meaning that logisticians and purchasers had to find the related fixtures within a very short period of time. The 45 year-old project manager recalls: "We had to improvise a lot, and this turned out to be very successful."

While the conversion work was going on, the complete technical documentation � in other words, the operating instructions for the vehicle � had to be tailored to the customer requirements. This called for the revision of hundreds of pages with the addition of new photos.

A seven-week crash course was held to show Canadian soldiers how to use the Buffalo armored recovery vehicle. Soldiers learnt how to operate and handle the vehicle safely during on-the-job training sessions under real conditions with Rheinmetall's training personnel/driving instructors. Amongst other things, RLS service technicians taught them how to recover a battle tank � e.g. a Leopard 2 MBT � in a danger zone and how to use the items of equipment in the vehicle correctly.

The ARV was subjected to a thorough inspection prior to the actual customer acceptance in July 2007. Checks included a test of the brakes on a steep slope. The project team was extremely relieved to note that the test results were good, especially when the two vehicles were finally handed over on schedule on August 13, 2007.

Andreas Sch�nknecht attributes the success of the project to the outstanding teamwork which had made it possible to meet the targets in spite of an extremely tight schedule, to meet all the contractual requirements and to keep within the budget. Words of praise from the project manager: "The team members were stretched to their limits. They worked a lot of extra hours and even spent weeks and weeks in Kassel away from their families in Kiel."