The GFF4 (Geschützte Führungs- und Funktionsfahrzeuge, Klasse 4: Protected Command and Functional Vehicles, Class 4), previously KMW Grizzly, is a medium weight

MRAP Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP; ) is a term for United States Armed Forces, United States military light tactical vehicles produced as part of the MRAP program that are designed specifically to withstand improvised explosive device (IE ...

armored personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

, developed by

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG (KMW) is an arms industry company based in Munich, Germany. The company produces various types of equipment as well as rail locomotives, tanks, self-propelled artillery, and other armoured vehicles. KMW was ...

(KMW), designed for operation with the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

based on the

6x6 Six-wheel drive (6WD or 6×6) is an all-wheel drive drivetrain configuration of three axles with at least two wheels on each axle capable of being driven simultaneously by the vehicle's engine. Unlike four-wheel drive drivetrains, the configurat ...

Trakker chassis from

Iveco IVECO, an acronym for Industrial Vehicles Corporation, is an Italian multinational transport vehicle manufacturing company. It designs and builds light, medium, and heavy commercial vehicles. The name IVECO first appeared in 1975 after a merger o ...

adapted to meet the needs of the German Army. It is being developed under the direction of the

German Ministry of Defence The Federal Ministry of Defence (german: Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, ), abbreviated BMVg, is a top-level Federal agency (Germany), federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The mini ...

Federal Office of Defense Technology and Procurement (Bundesamt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung). The first vehicle will be delivered as early as November 2007. The GFF4 is designed to meet the German Army's "Class 4" protected command and role-specific vehicles, with a

gross vehicle weight Vehicle weight is a measurement of wheeled motor vehicles; either an actual measured weight of the vehicle under defined conditions or a gross weight rating for its weight carrying capacity. Curb or kerb weight Curb weight (U.S. English) or kerb ...

of 25 tons, and transportable on the

Airbus A400M The Airbus A400M AtlasNamed after the Greek mythological figure. is a European four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It was designed by Airbus Military (now Airbus Defence and Space) as a tactical airlifter with strategic capabil ...

aircraft. Currently, the German Army could use only the smaller 12.5 ton

ATF Dingo The ATF Dingo is a German heavily armored military MRAP infantry mobility vehicle An infantry mobility vehicle (IMV) is a wheeled armored personnel carrier (APC) serving as a military patrol, reconnaissance or security vehicle. Examples inc ...

2 or the 33 ton

Boxer MRAV The Boxer is a multirole armoured fighting vehicle designed by an international consortium to accomplish a number of operations through the use of installable mission modules. The governments participating in the Boxer programme have changed as th ...

. Grizzly can carry 10 fully equipped troops, which exceeds by greater than 50% the 3 tons required by the German request for proposal (RFP). The vehicle is protected in all directions. The driver's station and crew compartment form an integral safety cell providing protection against

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

s (IEDs), projectiles,

missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket i ...

s and mines. The cell's frame also forms a

rollcage A roll cage is a specially engineered and constructed frame built in (or sometimes around, in which case it is known as an exo cage) the passenger compartment of a vehicle to protect its occupants from being injured or killed in an accident, pa ...

. The engine compartment and

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission *** ...

are armored to reduce the chance of a 'mobility kill' under attack. KMW is offering the vehicle in several configurations, and since the design is based on a modular concept, a smaller 4x4 or larger 8x8 variant, with corresponding payloads are possible.

Operators

Italian Army - 8th Bersaglieri Regiment - VTMM Orso Route Clearance interior during an exercise at Capo Teulada November 2022

Current operators

*: Unknown. *: 5 vehicles delivered from Italy (4x4 chassis variant from Iveco DV) *: Similar vehicle produced by Iveco DV with the 4x4 chassis variant. Called by Italian Army VTMM (Veicolo Tattico Medio Multiruolo; Medium Multirole Tactical Vehicles) "Orso" (Bear). 56 vehicles, 16 ambulance.

Military Vehicles of Similar Name

The KMW Grizzly, named after the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

shares its name with several other

military vehicle A military vehicle is any vehicle for land-based military transport and activity, including combat vehicles; both specifically designed for, or significantly used by military and armed forces. Most military vehicles require off-road capabiliti ...

s: *

Blackwater USA Blackwater was an American private military company founded on December 26, 1996 by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince. It was renamed Xe Services in 2009 and known as Academi since 2011 after it was acquired by a group of private investors ...

Grizzly APC The Grizzly APC is a 22-ton infantry mobility vehicle designed and manufactured by Academi for urban combat. Design 4x2, 4x4, and 6x6 versions with three different Caterpillar diesel engines are available. Its armor, called the "Blackwater High ...

* AVGP Grizzly *

Grizzly combat engineering vehicle The M1 Abrams is a third-generation American main battle tank designed by Chrysler Defense (now General Dynamics Land Systems) and named for General Creighton Abrams. Conceived for modern armored ground warfare and now one of the heaviest t ...

, based on the

M1 Abrams The M1 Abrams is a third-generation American main battle tank designed by Chrysler Defense (now General Dynamics Land Systems) and named for General Creighton Abrams. Conceived for modern armored ground warfare and now one of the heaviest ta ...

tank chassis

References

External links

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GFF4
- Prouct Website of the manufacturer {{Modern IFV and APC Off-road vehicles Armoured fighting vehicles of the post–Cold War period Armoured personnel carriers of Germany Wheeled armoured personnel carriers Post–Cold War military vehicles of Germany Iveco vehicles Military vehicles introduced in the 2000s

Operators

Current operators

Military Vehicles of Similar Name

See also

References

External links