Windhoeker Maschinenfabrik (WMF) is a

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

defense contractor The arms industry, also known as the arms trade, is a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology. It consists of a commercial industry involved in the research and development, engineering, production, and serv ...

located in

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

and operated by the

Namibian Defence Force The Namibian Defence Force (NDF) comprises the national military forces of Namibia. It was created when the country, then known as South West Africa, gained independence from South Africa in 1990. Chapter 15 of the Constitution of Namibia establ ...

. WMF designs and manufactures

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

V-hull The V-hull is a type of vehicle armor design used on wheeled armored personnel carriers (APCs), infantry mobility vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and MRAPs. The design originated in the 1970s with vehicles such as the iconic Casspir ...

armoured combat vehicles. WMF is responsible for the armoured bodywork fabrication while engines, transmissions and axles are built by

MAN A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromos ...

History

Windhoeker Maschinenfabrik was founded in 1939. It later provided equipment for the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...

and

South West African Territorial Force The South West Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) was an auxiliary arm of the South African Defence Force (SADF) and comprised the armed forces of South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1977 to 1989. It emerged as a product of South Africa's politic ...

. In 1977 WMF began manufacturing

Mine Protected Vehicle The V-hull is a type of vehicle armor design used on wheeled armored personnel carriers (APCs), infantry mobility vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and MRAPs. The design originated in the 1970s with vehicles such as the iconic Casspi ...

s. After the

Independence of Namibia The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...

from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in 1989, WMF was

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

in 1998. The company functions as a subsidiary of

. Currently retired Major General

Ben Kadhila Major General Ben Uuyamba Kadhila is a retired Namibian military officer whose last appointment was as Chief Joint Operations of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF). He served as the first Commander of the Namibian Special Forces, he retired in July ...

is the Managing Director.

WMF Products

WMF performs the following services: * armouring of plant and construction machinery * Refurbishing of other armoured vehicles such as the

Casspir The Casspir is a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle that has been in use in South Africa since the 1980s. It is a four-wheeled, four-wheel drive vehicle, used for transport of troops. It can hold a crew of two, plus 12 additional soldiers an ...

WMF produces the following 4x4

Mine protected vehicle The V-hull is a type of vehicle armor design used on wheeled armored personnel carriers (APCs), infantry mobility vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and MRAPs. The design originated in the 1970s with vehicles such as the iconic Casspi ...

s (MPVs) * Wolf I, * Wolf II, * Wolf Turbo II - at 14 tons, * WerWolf Mk I - at 10 tons. *

Wer’wolf MKII The Wer'wolf MK2 is a Namibian designed and built military vehicle that offers protection against small arms fire and land mines. The vehicle uses a MAN chassis, axles and engine. The Wer'Wolf MK2 is a modular vehicle. It is built with a crew ...

at 17 tons. * MK III WMF also produces the following 6x6

s (MPVs) *Wolf 6x6 recovery vehicle *WerWolf Mk II 6X6 recovery vehicle Humanitarian Engineering and Consulting (HEC), the R&D branch for

MgM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

, has designed a special series of WerWolf called the HEC-Wolf, which specifically supports the requirements of

Humanitarian Demining Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By contra ...

operations. The HEC-Wolf is somewhat de-militarized in that it cannot carry the wide range of weapons which normally are associated with this vehicle.

Users

WMFs customers are: * Namibian Defence Force *

Angolan Armed Forces The Angolan Armed Forces ( pt, Forças Armadas Angolanas) or FAA is the military of Angola. The FAA consist of the Angolan Army (), the Angolan Navy () and the National Air Force of Angola (). Reported total manpower in 2021 was about 107,000. ...

Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force The Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) is the military of the Southern African Kingdom of Eswatini (Swaziland). It is used primarily during domestic protests, with some border and customs duties; the force has never been involved in a foreign ...

NamPower Namibia Power Corporation, commonly known as NamPower, is the national electric power utility company of Namibia. The company is responsible for generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in the country. Its activities are lice ...

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

agencies, * Humanitarian agencies such as: **

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

Doctors Without Borders Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

Stiftung Menschen gegen Minen A stiftung () (properly ''Stiftung'', pl. ''Stiftungen'') is an institution/foundation which, with the aid of a property, pursues a purpose determined by the founder. A ''stiftung foundation'' exists to give effect to the stated, non-commercial wi ...

e. V. better known as

* selected filmmakers and TV crews

Location

* Physical address 13 Bessemer Street, Southern Industrial Area Windhoek, Namibia * Postal Address: P.O. Box 5013 Windhoek, Namibia

References

External links