Rheinmetall has formally handed over a heavily protected Survivor R special operations vehicle to the Berlin Police Department.

Dr Barbara Slowik, Chief of the Berlin Police Department, symbolically handed over the keys to the Operations Directorate, represented by Criminal Investigation Division Director Martin John. This versatile vehicle, ordered as part of a package of counterterrorism measures in late September 2017, is specially configured to meet the needs of the Operations Directorate of the Berlin Police. Berlin follows Saxony as the third German state to equip its police special operators with the Survivor R.

Made by Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles, the Survivor R epitomizes Rheinmetall’s commitment to the twin modern imperatives of security and mobility. Developed in cooperation with Austrian special vehicle maker Achleitner, the Survivor R is superbly suited to police SWAT team-type operations. Vehicles of this kind are particularly important in high-risk situations when special operators need to be transported safely to the area of operations, or for evacuating persons from the danger zone.

The Survivor R is based on a high-performance 4×4 MAN truck chassis, outfitted with a steel armour passenger compartment. Capable of reaching a top speed of over 100 km/h, this high-mobility vehicle combines tried-and-tested automotive engineering from large-scale production runs with state-of-the-art force protection technology from Rheinmetall.

Systematic use of civilian off-the-shelf and standard military components results in a sensibly priced vehicle, while simultaneously benefitting from Rheinmetall MAN’s global service and maintenance network. This makes the Survivor R a cost-efficient, easy-to-maintain vehicle with low lifecycle costs and high operational readiness.