Rheinmetall Landsysteme has been demonstrating the capabilities of its AEV 3 Kodiak armoured engineering vehicle (AEV) to the Polish Land Forces, the company announced on 6 March 2025.
The vehicle was showcased at the commanders’ conference of the Polish Corps of Engineers on 26 February at the Ostrowo Krzyckie military training area.
After first demonstrating the AEV 3 Kodiak’s mobility, acceleration and speed in various terrain, Rheinmetall then showed the vehicle conducting typical tasks of the engineer corps, which involve supporting friendly and inhibiting enemy movements. To do this it used its excavator arm, which is mounted in the centre of the vehicle, and its dozer blade.
The advantages of the vehicle’s centre-arm concept were shown as it first dug an anti-tank ditch and then repaired a damaged flood dam. The highlight of the demonstration, according to Rheinmetall, was when the AEV 3 Kodiak overcame the previously dug anti-tank ditch.
The AEV 3 Kodiak is currently the only new armoured engineer vehicle based on the Leopard 2 main battle tank chassis and its powerpack: an MTU 873 Ka-501 V-12 diesel that develops 1,103 kW coupled to a Renk HSWL 354 transmission. As well as the Bundeswehr, which commissioned Rheinmetall to supply 44 AEV 3 Kodiak in the spring of 2021, the vehicle is operated by the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland and Sweden.
The Polish Land Forces, meanwhile, currently operate around half a dozen MID Bizon AEVs, which are based on the chassis of the PT-91: the oldest MBT type in the Polish Land Forces’ tank fleet.
In its Polish demonstrations Rheinmetall also showed how the AEV 3 Kodiak can be converted into an armoured mine clearance system known as the Keiler Next Generation (NG). The company offers this capability both as a customised variant or via a mine clearance add-on kit featuring a Pearson mine plough, the Plofadder rocket-assisted detonation cord system, a magnetic field duplicator and a mine lane marking system.
The Pearson mine plough, which is more than 4 m wide, can clear mines at a rate of up to 250 m per minute over loose ground, while to operate on firm soil the Rheinmetall Denel Munition Plofadder system can cut a 160 m long and 9 m wide path through minefields and obstacles in just a few minutes.
Instead of an excavator arm, the Keiler NG has an integrated crane so that it can carry out retrofitting, follow-on supply or tool changes independently. For self-protection both the AEV 3 Kodiak and the Keiler NG carry the ROSY rapid obscuring protection system and the Natter 12.7 mm remote-controlled weapon station.
