Dutch Army’s Fennek Armoured Vehicles to get Rheinmetall's Aiming Devices

Rheinmetall won a contract to equip the Dutch military’s Fennek wheeled armoured reconnaissance vehicle with a new gun carriage-adaptable aiming device.

The new device, the Lafettenadaptierbares Zielgerät 400, or LaZ400 for short, will replace the vehicle’s existing thermal imaging system, significantly enhancing the Fennek’s reconnaissance and target engagement capabilities. An order to this effect for 246 devices has been awarded to Rheinmetall Electronics through Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, the Fennek general contractor.

The order is worth around €36 million, including value added tax. Due to be delivered through to 2027, the devices will be fabricated at the Rheinmetall Electronics plant in Ismaning in Bavaria.

The Lafetten¬adaptierbares Zielgerät 400 retrofit forms part of the Dutch military’s Fennek midlife upgrade programme. The Dutch armed forces will mount the LaZ400 on the vehicle’s 1530-type gun carriage. The new sensor system will supersede the thermal imaging device currently in use.

Already used in the Bundeswehr’s FLW200 remotely controlled weapon station, the LaZ400 is a tried and tested system. Its colour daylight sensor, thermal imaging sensor and laser rangefinder enable outstanding reconnaissance performance around the clock as well as precise engagement of targets.

Now official, the current order will bring the number of LaZ family devices now in use to over 2,700.