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ACS GmbH (Armoured Car Systems), based in Friedberg-Derching, officially opened its new production facility yesterday in the presence of Joachim Herrmann and around 70 invited guests and partners. After the company received a major order last year under the general contract of Rheinmetall Landsysteme and Mercedes Benz, the production area was expanded by around 3,000 square metres to a total of 9,000 square metres in record time of just six months. This represents an investment volume of just under 10 million euros.

Here, ACS manufactures the floor assembly, including the patented modular structure of the CARACAL vehicles, and handles the engineering of the various equipment sets. These are air-transportable tactical vehicles that are the successors to the Luftlande Wölfe. After production at ACS, the vehicles are assembled at Mercedes-Benz G GmbH in Graz, Austria. Final assembly will then be carried out at Rheinmetall.

In addition to the managing directors, guests included representatives of the German Armed Forces, the Dutch Army, the German Security and Defence Industry Association, local politicians, suppliers and, last but not least, the ACS shareholders.

In his welcoming speech, Sebastian Schaubeck, Managing Director of ACS, thanked everyone involved in this tour de force and emphasised the responsibility they are taking on for the safety of military and police forces – and thus also for the entire population. ‘Almost 90% of our shares in CARACAL are made in Germany and around 80% are made in Bavaria. That makes us proud and shows that defence policy is also industrial policy,’ he emphasised.

The ACS site, located directly on the A8 motorway, has the capacity to produce 300 vehicles per year; if necessary, output can be doubled. Fifty new jobs have been created in the past six months, bringing the team to around 85 employees. Another 20 employees are being sought in design, assembly and welding.