Luchs 2: The €3.5 Billion Scout Vehicle Replacing Germany’s Fennek

Germany released €3.54 billion for the Luchs 2 on 15 October 2025, the armed scout vehicle replacing the Bundeswehr's Fennek. Here is where that money actually goes. Five days after the Bundestag budget committee approved the funding, BAAINBw confirmed the contract with General Dynamics European Land Systems for 274 vehicles firm, with an option for 82 more, 356 in total. Two reference systems arrive in 2028 and series deliveries run from 2029 to 2032. The vehicle is a Mowag Piranha 5 shortened to a 6x6 and made amphibious, with a permissible gross weight of 25 tonnes including a 7.5 tonne payload, STANAG 4569 Level 4 protection, an MTU diesel and steering on both front and rear axles. Hensoldt supplies the sensor mast and the Ceretron mission system under an order it valued at just under €1 billion. Rheinmetall supplies the unmanned CT-025 turret and the Oerlikon MK 25 KBA 25mm cannon, with the stabilised sight coming from Theon Sensors. The Piranha beat Rheinmetall's Fuchs Evolution and the Patria 6x6 offered by KNDS Deutschland in a three-way competition opened in October 2023 under the interim project name Korsak. The Fennek it replaces entered service in 2003, a 4x4 observation vehicle with no cannon at all. But Germany is only replacing a sub-fleet. The Bundestag approved Fennek upgrades in July 2024 and again in September 2026, so both vehicles will serve side by side well into the 2030s. Which leaves the real question. Can a crewed scout vehicle survive a battlefield that drones already watch? RUSI puts tactical drones behind 60 to 70 percent of damaged and destroyed Russian systems in Ukraine. The Bundeswehr's answer runs on depth, persistence and the gun the Fennek never had. We also look at why a flagship German programme went to a General Dynamics subsidiary, how that compares with the British Army's Ajax and the French EBRC Jaguar, and why the Critical Design Review is the date that decides whether 2029 holds. #Bundeswehr #Luchs2 #GermanArmy #Fennek #EuropeanDefence