KMW inaugurates new production facility in the Netherlands

KMW inaugurates new production facility in the Netherlands
February 8, 2010

- KMW becomes most important land systems producer in the Netherlands

- Significant local value creation in binational BOXER vehicle program

Helmond, February 8th, 2010. The new production facility of KMW-subsidiary Dutch Defense Vehicle Systems (DDVS) has been officially opened today in Helmond, near Eindhoven (NL). Attendees included the official patron of the ceremony, State Secretary Jack de Vries on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Defense, and guests from the political, industrial, and military domains. By founding this new production facility for military vehicle components and creating one of the most advanced competence centers for welding technologies in Europe, KMW underscores its commitment to the Dutch market and the strong will to cross-border cooperation.

“With the opening of our Dutch production site we are passing another milestone of our cooperation strategy for the European Defense Market”, says Frank Haun, CEO of KMW.

Under the Dutch flag of its DDVS subsidiary, Europe’s leader in protected wheeled and tracked vehicles will produce all hulls and several mission modules for the German-Dutch BOXER vehicle program. In total, the two states have ordered 472 of the highly protected, 8-wheeled vehicles. Furthermore, the Dutch FENNEK reconnaissance vehicles will be provided logistical service and maintenance in Helmond as well.

The 100% KMW subsidiary has been founded in 2005 and was assigned with the assembly of the Dutch vehicles from the German-Dutch FENNEK program. Due to the consequent development of the site, several additional business activities have been generated in Helmond, leading to the creation of a new production facility. The DDVS has thus become the most important competence center for military land systems in the Netherlands and is building on a wide network of certified suppliers and research institutes complemented by the extensive system know-how of its parent company.

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG leads the European market for armoured wheeled and tracked vehicles. At locations in Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Singapore and the USA, some 3400 employees manufacture and support a product portfolio ranging from air-transportable, heavily armoured wheeled vehicles (MUNGO, DINGO, GFF4 and BOXER*) through reconnaissance, anti-aircraft and artillery systems (FENNEK, GEPARD, LeFLaSys*, Armoured Howitzer 2000, AGM and DONAR) to heavy battle tanks (LEOPARD 1 and 2), armoured personnel carriers (PUMA*) and bridge-laying systems (LEGUAN and PSB2). In addition, KMW has wide-ranging system competence in the area of civil and military simulation, as well as in command and information systems and remote-controlled gun-carriages with reconnaissance and observation equipment for day and night missions. The armed forces of more than 30 nations worldwide rely on the operational systems by KMW. Get more information on www.kmweg.com. * Joint venture with national and international partners

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Land Systems, Krauss-Maffei Wegman