On Monday, April 27, 2026, German group Rheinmetall AG signed an implementation contract for the supply of additional third-generation IdZ-ES (Infanterist der Zukunft-Erweitertes System) individual combat system sets to the Bundeswehr, as well as for the modernization of existing sets. The framework agreement for the program, with a maximum value of 3.1 billion EUR, was signed by Rheinmetall Electronics, a subsidiary of the group, with the Bundeswehr’s defense procurement agency BAAINBw (Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr) on February 7, 2025.
Photos: Rheinmetall AG
The implementation contract, worth 1.04 billion EUR, covers the modernization of existing systems and the supply of additional sets for 237 platoons. Deliveries of system components are to take place between November 2027 and December 2029. An additional 8,600 soldiers will receive the IdZ-ES system. In total, the Bundeswehr will be equipped with IdZ-ES at the level of 353 platoons, covering more than 12,000 individual equipment and gear sets. The contract, awarded in April, will be booked in the second quarter of 2026. In addition, the German Bundestag approved the 1.3 billion EUR project a few days ago, so further orders are expected.
One IdZ-ES set at platoon level consists mainly of 34 individual soldier systems, platoon equipment, and peripheral components, including advanced IT equipment, optics, optronics, as well as military clothing, protective and load-carrying equipment, linked to C4I command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence systems. As general contractor, Rheinmetall AG is responsible for the system and coordinates the work of more than 30 subcontractors.
As mentioned, in February last year BAAINBw signed a framework agreement with Rheinmetall AG for the purchase of additional IdZ-ES systems with a maximum gross value of 3.1 billion EUR. The agreement runs until the end of 2030 and already includes an order to modernize 68 systems already in use and to purchase 24 new platoon systems, worth around 417 million EUR gross. This framework agreement for the procurement of soldier systems is, to date, the largest such contract for both Rheinmetall and BAAINBw.
Digital soldier systems are playing an increasingly important role in future digital battlefield operations. The Bundeswehr may therefore initiate the proportional modernization, production, and delivery of further IdZ-ES sets, as well as the procurement of numerous additional components and services.
The upgraded design that has been introduced into service eliminates all technically obsolete components and implements communication and data-exchange capabilities with various vehicle platforms. Thanks to improved basic equipment, the soldier system is connected via the vehicle platform to the information and communications network of the newly introduced D-LBO (Digitalisierung Landbasierte Operationen) battlefield management system. In addition, the conditions have been created for direct integration with D-LBO.
Rheinmetall AG is supplying the upgraded version of the IdZ-ES system, that is, the third-generation version, refined on the basis of experience gained from equipping NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in 2023. As part of the VJTF 2023 obsolescence-adjusted project, all technically obsolete components were eliminated and new communication and data-exchange capabilities were implemented with GTK Boxer wheeled infantry fighting vehicles and SPz Puma S1 infantry fighting vehicles, and subsequently with air platforms. The revised basic equipment of the soldier systems is also designed to connect to the information and communications network of the D-LBO system.
The third-generation IdZ-ES replaces the second-generation system known under the manufacturer’s name Gladius, which in turn was developed as the successor to the first-generation IdZ sets bearing the proprietary name Cassidian from Airbus Defence and Space. The full concept of the latest-generation sets was presented to the Bundeswehr on July 16, 2021, under a research and development contract signed in March of the same year.
Billion-euro contract for #Rheinmetall: #Bundeswehr calls off further #IdZES #soldier-systems
https://t.co/bNpZzKG1b9 pic.twitter.com/e0zwsK01oz
— Rheinmetall (@RheinmetallAG) April 27, 2026
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