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The German concern Rheinmetall is transferring MAN HX 8×8 military trucks to Ukraine. This contribution to Ukraine’s defense against the invasion of Russia is quite a significant help in terms of mobility. But why are these trucks commonly described as “high-speed”?
Rheinmetall MAN HX 8×8 is a highly versatile truck platform, which can be adapted to different tasks. Image credit: Rheinmetall Defence via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
This transfer has begun on behalf of the government of Germany. Germany is one of the major sponsors of Ukrainian defense efforts.
While at the beginning Germany was commonly criticized for hesitancy to provide heavy weaponry, now Ukraine can enjoy some important German weapons as well as armored machines. 26 units of MAN HX 8×8 military trucks is a huge contribution, well into millions of euros. And they will help Ukraine to maintain logistical mobility close to the frontlines.
High-speed trucks for Ukraine
Rheinmetall HX 8×8 military trucks are incredibly popular in the world – there are over 15 thousand of these machines worldwide. One of the reasons for this popularity is the flexibility and ease of maintenance of the platform, which utilizes a lot of off-the-shelf truck components.
Furthermore, the 8×8 chassis provides the strong off-road ability, which is extremely important in a military setting. The basic HX 8×8 weighs around 28 tonnes and it can be used as a platform for various tools, such as excavators.
MAN HX 8×8 is powered by a MAN D2676 diesel engine, which generates 387 kW of power. The maximum speed of this truck is 90 km/h. This doesn’t seem like a lot to warrant the Ukrainian media describing it as a “high-speed truck”. However, having in mind the difficult terrain these machines have to deal with and how slow other military off-road vehicles can be, 90 km/h is quite a respectable number. Especially since it’s a MAN platform, which is easy to maintain.
MAN HX 8×8 can reach the speed of 90 km/h and is confident off-road due to its excellent 8×8 chassis. Image credit: UndateableOne via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Rheinmetall is a German automotive and arms manufacturer and Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles is its subsidiary. It is the largest arms producer in Germany, responsible for all kinds of machines, including the Leopard 2 tanks.
Rheinmetall has stated before that it is ready to supply Ukraine with significant numbers of armored vehicles, but the German government has been hesitant to provide advanced systems, such as tanks, because other countries are not doing it either.
MAN HX 8×8 trucks are extremely appreciated by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, because these vehicles will improve the logistics situation, especially if the defenders of the country will launch new counteroffensive campaigns in the near future.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which started on February 24th, is far from over. Russia refuses to negotiate, stating that Zaporizhia, Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea are out of the question. Since these territories are part of Ukraine, Kyiv is not willing to give them up. And so the war is set to continue, probably for many months or many years.
Sources: Defence-ua.com, Rheinmetall-defence.com.
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