BELFAST — European manufacturer Rheinmetall said today that it has received a €1.04 billion ($1.2 billion) “call-off order” from Germany’s federal office of armed forces equipment, information technology and support (BAAINBw), covering additional Infantry Soldier of the Future — Enhanced System (IdZ-ES) kit.
The call-off order — a legally binding pact between a buyer and contractor — falls under a wider framework agreement and includes delivery of 237 more platoon systems along with modernization of current ones, a statement from the Dusseldorf-based firm reads. Deliveries are planned to run between 2027 and the end of 2029.
“In total, the German Bundestag has approved €1.3 billion for the project a few days ago, so further call-offs are expected,” the statement added.
Per the statement, BAAINBw first signed the framework agreement for additional IdZ-ES supplies in February 2025, worth up to €3.1 billion. It is the largest soldier systems deal of its type to date, for both Germany and Rheinmetall. The contract runs until the end of the decade and has already led to “modernisation of 68 systems” as well as the acquisition of 24 new platoon systems, with an estimated value of €417 million, according to the manufacturer.
Once this new batch of IdZ-ES supplies are in hand, the German army will be in possession of a total of 353 platoon systems, covering over 12,000 individual sets of equipment, noted the company statement.
A single platoon system is largely made up of 35 individual soldier-systems, alongside platoon-owned kit of “peripheral components,” such as “advanced IT-equipment, optics, optronics, as well as military clothing, protection and carrying equipment,” outlined Rheinmetall.
As general contractor of the IdZ-ES program, the firm is both accountable for it and in charge of coordinating involvement from over 30 subcontractors.
At a more basic product level, the statement noted that the “commissioned modernised design status” of the digital future soldier equipment “eliminates all technically obsolete components and implements communication and data exchange capabilities with different vehicle platforms.”
Courtesy of its “revised base hardware,” the system is connected through a vehicle platform to the Digitisation of Land-based Operations’ (D-LBO) communications network.
