The Bundeswehr will receive 35 vehicles and the Royal Netherlands Army 34. OCCAR placed the orders, which Rheinmetall said would generate revenue for the company in the mid-hundreds of millions of euros.
The purchases exercise options under the October 2025 contract for 222 vehicles, which allowed for up to 200 more. The Bundestag’s Budget Committee approved the first option call-off on 24 June 2026.
“The activation of additional options for the Schakal confirms our customers’ confidence in this state-of-the-art system”, said Dr Björn Bernhard, head of Rheinmetall’s Vehicle Systems Division. He said the additional orders would improve planning certainty for manufacturers and suppliers and strengthen European production capacity.
Schakal combines the Boxer’s wheeled chassis with the turret of the tracked Puma infantry fighting vehicle. It carries a fully equipped infantry squad and is intended to give medium forces the ability to cover long distances independently.
Its weapons include Rheinmetall’s MK 30-2/ABM cannon and the MELLS anti-tank guided missile, supported by digital networking and modern fire-control technology. Rheinmetall said using the Boxer platform would reduce training, logistics and lifecycle costs.
Key assemblies and components will be produced at German sites operated by Rheinmetall, KNDS Deutschland, MTU, Hensoldt and other suppliers. The company said the programme would sustain skilled jobs and strengthen the domestic industrial base.
Rheinmetall also said German industry had guaranteed significantly faster delivery of option vehicles if the large-scale Arminius Boxer programme is commissioned. That programme remains conditional.
