Rheinmetall has handed over to the Hungarian armed forces the first KF41 Lynx infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) to be locally produced at the company’s site in Zalaegerszeg.
The Lynx was handed over on 24 July 2024 during a ceremony at Zalaegerszeg attended by Hungarian Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, along with Head of Rheinmetall Vehicle Systems Europe Dr Björn Bernhard and Rheinmetall Hungary CEO Paul Walf.
The first Lynx from the Hungarian production line was completed in December 2023. It was officially handed over to the Hungarian armed forces following extensive functional inspections as well as performance and quality acceptances.
Rheinmetall Group’s Zalaegerszeg factory, which cover 33 hectares as part of the ZALAZone industrial complex, was opened in August 2023 and is billed by the company as “the world’s most modern competence centre for the production of tracked armoured vehicles”. While the site already features an extensively equipped test centre that includes a firing tunnel, Rheinmetall plans additional investments there in the coming years in order to further increase production capacity.
Establishment of the Zalaegerszeg facility followed the Hungarian Ministry of Defence commissioning Rheinmetall in September 2020 to supply combat vehicles and associated services worth over EUR 2 billion as part of its ‘Zrínyi 2026’ initiative. A total of 209 Lynx KF41s are to be supplied to the Hungarian armed forces in seven variants: IFV, command post vehicle, armoured reconnaissance vehicle, fire control vehicle, mortar carrier, medical vehicle and driving school vehicle. A Lynx air defence vehicle with a Skyranger 30 turret is also in progress as part of another development contract placed in December 2023.
In the first production phase Hungary will receive 46 German-made Lynx IFVs by the end of 2025, the first of which was handed over in October 2022. Production of the remaining vehicles began at the end of 2023 as part of the Rheinmetall Hungary Zrt joint venture between Rheinmetall (51%) and the Hungarian government (49%) in Zalaegerszeg.
