Rheinmetall’s Lynx fighting vehicles could soon see combat in Ukraine

BERLIN — Germany will finance the delivery of five Lynx KF41 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine under a contract signed in December 2025, with the first systems expected to arrive in the coming weeks, Rheinmetall announced Monday.

The deal, valued in the mid double-digit million euro range, marks Ukraine’s entry into what Rheinmetall describes as a larger-scale procurement program for the next-generation infantry fighting vehicle. The vehicles will be equipped with a two-person Lance turret and configured specifically for Ukrainian Armed Forces requirements.

The decision to procure the Lynx followed extensive testing by Ukrainian forces, according to the German arms giant. The company delivered a single Lynx KF41 to Ukraine in late 2024 for evaluation purposes. Ukraine becomes only the second country to operate the platform, after Hungary, which received its first vehicles from a newly opened Rheinmetall facility in Szeged in December 2025.

“We are grateful for the trust that Ukraine has placed in us,” Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said in the company’s announcement. He also thanked the German government for its support in paying for the initial batch.

Future procurement phases are expected to include manufacturing directly in Ukraine. In November 2025, the company’s CEO proposed establishing Ukrainian production lines for the Lynx, as well as the Fuchs and Panther vehicles, similar to a model it implemented in Algeria.

The Lynx KF41 is Rheinmetall’s product for the infantry fighting vehicle segment, designed to compete with platforms such as the American Bradley and Swedish CV90. The vehicle features enhanced protection, mobility, and firepower compared to older IFV designs.

Germany has been one of Ukraine’s largest military supporters since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and is second only to the United States’ assistance from before Donald Trump took over at president. Berlin had provided nearly €20 billion ($23.3 billion) in military aid to Ukraine as of Oct. 31, 2025, the most recent data available, with a further €5 billion ($5.8 billion) given in financial and humanitarian assistance.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

柏林——莱茵金属公司周一宣布，根据2025年12月签署的合同，德国将资助向乌克兰交付5辆Lynx KF41步兵战车，首批战车预计将在未来几周内交付。

这笔价值数千万欧元的交易标志着乌克兰正式加入莱茵金属公司所称的更大规模的下一代步兵战车采购计划。这些战车将配备双人“长矛”炮塔，并根据乌克兰武装部队的具体需求进行定制。

据这家德国军火巨头称，乌克兰军队对“山猫”装甲车进行了广泛的测试后，才决定采购该型装甲车。该公司于2024年底向乌克兰交付了一辆“山猫”KF41装甲车用于评估。乌克兰将成为继匈牙利之后第二个使用该平台的国家。匈牙利于2025年12月从莱茵金属公司位于塞格德新建的工厂接收了首批车辆。

莱茵金属公司首席执行官阿明·帕佩格尔在公司声明中表示：“我们感谢乌克兰对我们的信任。”他还感谢德国政府为首批产品的采购提供的支持。

预计未来的采购阶段将包括在乌克兰直接进行生产。2025年11月，该公司首席执行官提议在乌克兰建立Lynx以及Fuchs和Panther车辆的生产线，类似于该公司在阿尔及利亚实施的模式。

Lynx KF41是莱茵金属公司面向步兵战车领域推出的产品，旨在与美国的布雷德利和瑞典的CV90等平台竞争。与老式步兵战车相比，该车具有更强的防护性、机动性和火力。

自2022年俄罗斯全面入侵乌克兰以来，德国一直是乌克兰最大的军事支持者之一，其援助规模仅次于唐纳德·特朗普就任总统之前的美国。截至2025年10月31日（可获得的最新数据），柏林已向乌克兰提供了近200亿欧元（233亿美元）的军事援助，此外还提供了50亿欧元（58亿美元）的财政和人道主义援助。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。