Rheinmetall together with the company Blackned in the large-scale project “Digitization of Land-Based Operations” (D-LBO) of the German Armed Forces won a contract worth around 1.2 billion euros. The contract includes the integration of the IT systems of all vehicle and platform systems of the land forces. Rheinmetall accounts for around 730 million euros of the contract volume, with the remainder going to Blackned.
After the Bundestag Budget Committee approved this project and also approved 37 other so-called 25-million-euro proposals. the corresponding procurement contract has now been signed by representatives of the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) and the ISI working group (ArGe IT-Systemintegration), which is made up of the companies Blackned and Rheinmetall Electronics. Subcontractors will also include Airbus Defense and Space as an outstanding ArGe partner. https://militaeraktuell.at/12-drohnen-lektionen-aus-dem-ukraine-krieg/ The new technology is to be integrated into more than 10,000 Bundeswehr combat and support vehicles by mid-2030. The hardware-related part, which includes the upstream conversion of the vehicle and platform systems, has been commissioned in a second procurement contract. The contractor in this case is ArGe D-LBO, consisting of Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH and KNDS Germany. D-LBO is a key project for the modernization of the Bundeswehr’s land forces and one of the army’s most important procurement projects. It enables the networking of vehicles and soldiers as well as sensors and effectors. The exchange of real-time information increases the operational capability and interoperability of units equipped with D-LBO.
Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall AG: “We are grateful that we can make a central contribution to the digitalization of the land forces in this project – both in IT development and in equipping the hardware. The new technology will significantly increase the command and control capability of the army units and improve interoperability within the Bundeswehr and with NATO-partners, which will be particularly important for the new Brigade 45 in Lithuania.” The contract for IT system integration has a term of up to ten years and covers all work for the integration of new digital radio and command systems into a standardized IT system. This will be provided under the configuration control of BWI GmbH – the Bundeswehr’s IT system house.
Here for further reports on the Bundeswehr and here to further reports on Rheinmetall.
