RUAG, a technology partner of the Swiss Armed Forces, teamed up with systems specialist Rheinmetall to manufacture and market the armoured engineer and mine clearance vehicle. The vehicle represents a technological world first based on a Leopard-2 chassis. Alongside its military capability, it can be equipped to provide valuable support in the event of disasters or for civil-military collaboration.

Delivery of the units to the Swiss Armed Forces was delayed to iron out problems with the power shovel hydraulics that surfaced during endurance tests under extreme military operational conditions. The system was optimised jointly by Rheinmetall and RUAG and successfully subjected to a battery of tests involving other components.

The armoured engineer and mine clearance vehicle features a powerful hinged-arm excavator with a quick-release coupling allowing the excavator bucket to be exchanged for a number of other engineering devices including a bulldozer system with innovative cutting and tilt angle settings and a double-winch system consisting of two 9-tonne capstan winches. If the need arises, the dozer blade can be swapped for a full-width mine plough. This turns the vehicle into a high performance minefield-breaching system that is also capable of clearing field fortifications and installing or clearing obstacles and barriers.