Rheinmetall delivers Survivor R SOV to German Essen SWAT unit.

Rheinmetall has just handed over a heavily protected Survivor R special operations vehicle to the police in the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen. Herbert Reul, minister of the interior of Nordrhein-Westfalen, symbolically presented the keys to the police SWAT unit in Essen. This versatile vehicle, ordered in spring 2018, is specially configured to meet the needs of tactical law enforcement in extreme situations. Three German states – Berlin, Saxony and Nordrhein-Westfalen – now equip their police special operators with the Survivor R.

Rheinmetall's Survivor R Special Operations Vehicle (Picture source: Rheinmetall )

Made by Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles, the Survivor R epitomizes Rheinmetall’s commitment to the twin modern imperatives of security and mobility. Developed in cooperation with Austrian special vehicle maker Achleitner, the Survivor R is superbly suited to police SWAT team-type operations. Vehicles of this kind are particularly important in high-risk situations when special operators need to be transported safely to the area of operations, or for evacuating persons from the danger zone. The Survivor R is based on a high-performance 4x4 MAN truck chassis, outfitted with a steel armour passenger compartment.

Capable of reaching a top speed of over 100 km/h, this high-mobility vehicle combines tried-and-tested automotive engineering from large-scale production runs with state-of-the-art force protection technology from Rheinmetall. Systematic use of civilian off-the-shelf and standard military components results in a sensibly priced vehicle, while simultaneously benefitting from Rheinmetall MAN’s global service and maintenance network. This makes the Survivor R a cost-efficient, easy-to-maintain vehicle with low lifecycle costs and high operational readiness.

Headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, Rheinmetall AG is a publicly traded, globally operating high-tech enterprise. The Group consists of two operational units: Rheinmetall Defence und Rheinmetall Automotive. Last year, its roughly 23,000-strong workforce generated sales of around €5.9 billion. Rheinmetall is committed to making the best-possible equipment available to the men and women whose job it is to protect our society and way of life. Rheinmetall’s Public Security product portfolio covers an extensive array of relevant capability categories, including reconnaissance and surveillance, command and control, cyber security, kinetic solutions, force protection and tactical mobility.