The vehicles were handed over on 29 October at Rheinmetall Defence Nederland’s plant in Ede, where final assembly takes place. The Dutch Ministry of Defence received an initial vehicle for driver training on 29 September.
“The highly mobile and modular Caracal is one of the most versatile vehicles in our portfolio,” said Björn Bernhard, managing director of Rheinmetall Landsysteme. “Rheinmetall colleagues from Germany and the Netherlands are working closely with other industry partners to make this project a reality.”
Caracal is built on the Mercedes-Benz G-Class 464 military chassis, which also underpins the Wolf 2. Its lightweight superstructure can be adapted to different missions, with 28 equipment kits currently available across the programme.
The basic configuration carries four soldiers and their personal and mission equipment. Depending on their configuration, vehicles can travel inside a heavy-lift helicopter or be carried as an underslung load.
Rheinmetall said Caracal offers modular, scalable protection against mines and ballistic threats. Its ring mount can accommodate weapons ranging from machine guns to automatic grenade launchers and anti-tank systems, while a second machine gun can be mounted for the co-driver.
Rheinmetall Landsysteme and Rheinmetall Defence Nederland handed the vehicles to Germany’s procurement agency, BAAINBw, and the Dutch Ministry of Defence. The company said the deliveries marked the starting point for further handovers in the programme’s range of roles.
