Bundeswehr, the unified armed forces of Germany, has taken delivery of the first protected mobile and recovery cranes.
Handed over by Liebherr-Werk Ehingen, the mobile and recovery cranes are part of a procurement contract that includes the delivery of 71 units.
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Liebherr received a contract worth approximately €150m from the Federal Office for Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support, BAAINBw, in June 2017.
The company is responsible for the delivery of 33 G-LTM protected armoured crane vehicles and 38 mobile cranes, which are all fitted with Rheinmetall’s protected driver and crane cabs.
The 38 mobile cranes include 17 heavy mobile crane vehicles with a counterweight of 8.4t and 21 super heavy mobile cranes a counterweight of 22.5t.
Remaining Bundeswehr cranes under the contract will be delivered by 2021.
As part of the crew safety requirements specified by BAAINBw, the company partnered with Rheinmetall to deliver protected driver and crane cab.
Rheinmetall’s force protection technology safeguards crew from ballistic fire, land mines and improvised explosive devices, as well as nuclear, bacteriological and chemical agents and ballistic threats during crane operations.
The G-BKF protected recovery crane vehicle has been developed based on Liebherr’s four-axle mobile crane chassis.
The vehicle features two recovery winches, a wheel lift mounted on the rear, and a 20.9m-long telescopic boom.
It can be used to recover and tow a range of vehicles, as well as lift heavy loads weighing up to 20t.
Equipped with a six-cylinder, 330kW Liebherr diesel engine, Bundeswehr’s G-LTM is a four-axle mobile crane that can perform operations in all kinds of environment.
