- Mobility and protection from the series-production programme
- Convincing cab-behind-engine design
- Powerful drive and uninterrupted tractive power
- First vehicles to be delivered within six months of receipt of order
The Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement and Daimler AG signed a corresponding agreement on 14 May 2012. Under the terms of the agreement, the German armed forces are to receive 25 Zetros 4×4 GTFs in the course of this year.
“With the Zetros GTF from Mercedes-Benz, the German armed forces will be taking delivery of a new class of armoured logistics vehicle tailored specifically to the given requirements,” noted Michael Dietz, Head of Sales and Marketing at Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks. “At the same time, we are able to deliver the vehicles with a very short lead time because the concept largely employs components from the established large-scale production series,” he added.
Hans Thünemann, Project Group Director U4 at the Office of Defence Technology and Procurement, focused on the aspect of protection for crews: “We attach high priority to protecting crews. With the new Zetros, soldiers will be able to perform their logistics tasks safely even when under threat. It is important for us that the vehicles can be supplied and ready for deployment in the short term.”
The in-service support manager for armoured wheeled vehicles at the Federal Armed Forces Logistics Office, lieutenant-colonel Manfred Klaffus, described the military requirements as follows:
“The criteria previously applied with regard to the procurement of vehicles for soldiers of the German federal armed forces have had to be adapted in the face of the asymmetric security situation which has prevailed in Afghanistan since the middle of the last decade at least, involving an extremely complex spectrum of dangers. On the basis of the two system capability specifications “Capability of armoured tactical mobility in land-based operations” and “Road transport on deployment”, a Final functional specification for armoured vehicles was established in order to provide soldiers on deployment with effective protection against the high level of danger in particular from IEDs.
While the procurement of armoured leading and functional vehicles is well underway, with a broad range of different categories of vehicle already in use now for some years and lives having been saved in numerous instances as a result, to date the area of armoured transport vehicles has still been covered primarily by temporary solutions (e.g. older vehicles with modular armour).”
In the five-ton payload class, only the Zetros 4×4 GTF from Mercedes-Benz – the sole cab-behind-engine vehicle in contention – was found to meet the armed forces’ requirements. A trial vehicle underwent in-depth testing at the defence technology offices from 2008, displaying convincing performance on all fronts. The offer submitted by Mercedes-Benz at the end of 2011 provides the basis for the agreement which has now been concluded on the delivery of 110 Zetros GTFs.
The first 4 of the 25 vehicles to be delivered in 2012 are set to pass through the integrated verification process to confirm due delivery in accordance with the terms of the agreement and to determine their suitability for deployment. At the end of this process, the approval for use will be issued. The remaining 85 armoured logistics vehicles will be delivered up to July 2014. With the Zetros GTF, Mercedes-Benz will be supplying the German armed forces with the first armoured transport vehicles designed specifically for this capability profile.