On Tuesday, January 27, 2026, as announced by the German group Rheinmetall AG and the Italian company Leonardo, the first batch of four tracked KF41 Lynx infantry fighting vehicles was handed over to the Italian Ministry of Defense at the Italian Army’s CEPOLISPE test center (Centro Polifunzionale di Sperimentazione dell’Esercito) located in Montelibretti (Lazio region, Province of Rome).
Photo: Leonardo, Rheinmetall AG
As a reminder, on November 5, 2025, the Italian–German joint venture Leonardo Rheinmetall Military Vehicles (LRMV, owned 50/50 by Leonardo and Rheinmetall AG) received a contract for the delivery of an initial batch of 21 KF41 Lynx vehicles, with an option for a further 30, under the A2CS (Army Armored Combat System) program for the Italian Army (Esercito Italiano).
Yesterday’s ceremony was attended by Guido Crosetto, Italy’s Minister of Defense; Carmine Masiello, Chief of Staff of the Esercito Italiano; Roberto Cingolani, CEO of Leonardo; and Björn Bernhard, Managing Director of Rheinmetall Vehicle Systems Europe. Also present were Laurent Sissmann, President of LRMV, and David Hoeder, Executive Director of the joint venture.
The Minister of Defence, Guido Crosetto, stated:
“The international scenario requires a constantly evolving Defence, capable of ensuring the security of the country and safeguarding national interests. This calls for a modern, flexible and credible model, based on high levels of operational readiness, qualified personnel and advanced technological capabilities. Within this framework comes the delivery of the Lynx armored vehicle, the result of Italian-German industrial cooperation, to the Italian Army, aimed at strengthening land systems through the introduction of state-of-the-art platforms. In this process, the Army’s Multifunctional Testing Center (CEPOLISPE) plays a central role, ensuring the testing and technical evaluation of vehicles, equipment and weapon systems to determine their suitability for operational use.”
“The Army has a clear direction and well-defined requirements for the new vehicles to accelerate the ‘mechanization’ path of the Armed Force, which concretely begins today. After 30 years in which the Italian soldier has demonstrated courage, commitment, determination and professionalism in peace support operations — to the point of coining the ‘Italian Way’ of peacekeeping — we have no doubts about their capabilities. They will be able to operate at their best if equipped with technology that meets the challenges ahead: this vehicle will radically change the way the Army fights“, stated the Chief of Staff of the Italian Army, Gen. C.A. Carmine Masiello, at the presentation of the A2CS “Lynx”.
Roberto Cingolani, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Leonardo, stated:
“The start of deliveries of the new armoured vehicles represents an important milestone in the programme we are carrying out with the Italian Army. The international alliance between Leonardo and Rheinmetall continues to stand as a key reference point for strengthening national defence and for the development of a solid, integrated and competitive European industrial base. This is a commitment we consider essential to ensuring national and European security and strategic autonomy.”
Armin Papperger, Rheinmetall Chief Executive Officer said:
“With the handover of the first armoured vehicles to the Italian armed forces, we are opening a new chapter in the success story of the Lynx vehicle family. As a next-generation combat vehicle, Lynx not only sets standards in terms of versatility, protection, effectiveness, scalability and future-proofing, but also in terms of enhanced European armaments cooperation.”
During the ceremony, the target Italian turret system, the Leonardo Hitfist 30 NG (right), was also presented
As a reminder, on December 31, 2024, Rheinmetall AG delivered a KF41 Lynx vehicle to Centro Polifunzionale di Sperimentazione dell’Esercito (CEPOLISPE) for testing.
As far as series deliveries are concerned, the first five vehicles will be delivered in the KF41 configuration with the manned Lance 2.0 turret, armed with a 30/35 mm Wotan 30/35 cannon (theoretical rate of fire of 200 rounds per minute), a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, and, optionally, a remote weapon station fitted with a 12.7 mm or 7.62 mm machine gun and a 40 mm automatic grenade launcher. These will be followed by 16 newly configured vehicles based on the same chassis and equipped with the 30 mm Hitfist NG turret developed by Leonardo. The contract also includes the upgrade of the entire fleet to this latter configuration, as well as an option for 30 additional vehicles and the delivery of training systems and simulators to improve crew training.
The Army Armored Combat System (A2CS) program, renamed from Armoured Infantry Combat System (AICS), calls for the procurement of up to 1,050 new infantry fighting vehicles (including approximately 650 in the baseline variant) to replace 200 VCC-80 Dardo IFVs, along with specialized vehicles in 16 variants. These include, among others, an artillery-rocket air defense system such as the Oerlikon Skyranger, a reconnaissance vehicle, and a tank destroyer. In parallel, the acquisition of 380 main battle tanks along with supporting vehicles is planned (with LRMV offering the KF51 Panther-IT fitted with a newly developed Italian 120 mm L/55 smoothbore gun – editor’s note). Both programs are estimated at approximately 20 billion EUR over the 2026–2037 timeframe.
Against this backdrop, Leonardo and Rheinmetall AG established the joint venture Leonardo Rheinmetall Military Vehicles (LRMV) on October 15, 2024, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding on July 3, 2024. Subsequently, on November 11, 2024, Iveco Defence Vehicles (then part of the Iveco Group; now part of Leonardo) became a subcontractor to LRMV for both programs.
KF41 Lynx
The first country to opt for the purchase of 218 KF41HU Lynx vehicles was Hungary. On July 24, 2024, a ceremony was held at the ZALA Zone facilities in Zalaegerszeg, operated by Rheinmetall Hungary Zrt., during which the first locally produced vehicle was handed over to the Hungarian Ministry of Defense. A total of 172 vehicles are to be manufactured locally.
The next user is Ukraine, for which the German government ordered an initial batch of five vehicles in December 2025, out of a planned total of 31 units. This decision followed extensive testing of the first vehicle, whose delivery was reported in January 2024.
The KF41 Lynx also attracted interest from Greece (which ultimately opted to modernize 500 M113 vehicles), and the platform is currently being offered in Romania and the United States as well. In Australia, however, the German bid lost out to South Korea’s Hanwha with the AS21 Redback IFV, while in the Czech Republic and Slovakia it was outcompeted by Sweden’s BAE Systems Hägglunds with the CV90 MkIV.
🇮🇹 #ItalianArmy’s #A2CS #programme kicks off – first four new infantry fighting vehicles delivered by #LRMV Joint Venture https://t.co/ygQ6Jbh3br @Leonardo_live pic.twitter.com/44UEz8OqGz
— Rheinmetall (@RheinmetallAG) January 27, 2026
🔴#LDO_PR Today, at the Italian Army (@Esercito) Multifuncional Experimentation Center (Ce.Poli.Spe) in Montelibretti, the Leonardo Rheinmetall Military Vehicles (#LRMV) Joint Venture delivered to the Armed Forces the first four #Lynx infantry fighting vehicles. This first… pic.twitter.com/HlJfdYqHA9
— Leonardo (@Leonardo_live) January 27, 2026