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.
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“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 a master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.
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