The Wasserwerfer 10000 (WaWe 10, literally "Water Launcher 10000") is a

water cannon A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-velocity stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of meters. They are used in firefighting, large vehicle washing, riot control, and mining ...

used for

riot control Riot control measures are used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful demonstration or unlawful protest. If a riot is spontaneous and irration ...

developed by

Rosenbauer The Rosenbauer Group is one of the world’s three largest manufacturers of fire-service vehicles and firefighting equipment, based in Leonding, Austria. Rosenbauer supplies the fire fighting sector in over 100 countries with a wide range of cus ...

on the

Mercedes-Benz Actros The Mercedes-Benz Actros is a heavy-duty truck introduced by Mercedes-Benz at the 1996 Commercial Vehicle IAA in Hanover, Germany as the replacement for the SK. It is normally used for long-distance haulage, heavy duty distribution haulage a ...

chassis for the Federal Police (Bundespolizei) and

Bereitschaftspolizei The ''Bereitschaftspolizei'' (literally 'Readiness Police'/On-Call Police (Reserve); effectively riot police) are the support and rapid reaction units of Germany's police forces. They are composed of detachments from the Federal Police and ...

in Germany. Named for its water capacity, it is the successor to the Wasserwerfer 9000.

History

The need for new water cannons for the federal and

state police State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction o ...

of Germany was first discussed at the 2005 Innenministerkonferenz; some older Wasserwerfer 9000s, previously criticised for safety concerns, were due to be retired following the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

that would take place across Germany. Following a tendering process by the Federal Ministry of the Interior's , the contract to build these new water cannons was won by Austrian

fire engine A fire engine (also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry) is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an i ...

manufacturer

in 2008, and development of the Wasserwerfer 10000 commenced. The first prototype Wasserwerfer 10000 was handed over to the Federal Ministry of the Interior in 2009, and the first production examples were delivered to state police forces in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

and

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

between 2010 and 2011. The Wasserwerfer 10000 is built on the

3341 tri-axle truck chassis with an armored angular body, preventing rioters from climbing onto the roof and projectiles from damaging it, and is equipped with a

polycarbonate Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, tough materials, and some grades are optically transparent. They are easily work ...

shatter-proof windshield. Three spray nozzles aimed with integrated

closed-circuit television Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

cameras and controlled by

joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. A joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal cont ...

s are positioned on the roof; two on the front and one on the rear of the truck. Loudspeakers are also equipped. The vehicle is operated by a crew of five police officers. A total of 78 Wasserwerfer 10000s were ordered by police forces across Germany throughout its production run, replacing 117 Wasserwerfer 9000s in a replacement scheme lasting until 2019. As of 2020, following a total of 15 operated by the Bundespolizei, the largest operators of Wasserwerfer 10000s include the states of Hamburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, both operating six of the type, and Berlin and

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, who operate five. Wasserwerfer 10000s have been used in a number of protests and

scenarios, including a large deployment at protests during the 2017 G20 Hamburg summit. The effectiveness of the Wasserwerfer 10000's polycarbonate windshield was questioned in 2014 following an incident in a

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

state police training exercise, in which mock rioters damaged the windshield by throwing plastic bottles, eggs and tennis balls at it.

References

{{Commons category, Wasserwerfer 10000 Non-lethal weapons Police weapons Riot control weapons Water Law enforcement in Germany