Medic! Medic! The new Eagle V 6x6

General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) handed over the new medium protected medical vehicle Eagle V 6x6 to the Bundeswehr at the information training exercise Sanitätsdienst in Feldkirchen at the beginning of July 2025. The successor to the Duro 3 Yak takes on important functions within the rescue chain for the transport of the wounded and injured.

Thomas Kauffmann, Managing Director of GDELS-Deutschland GmbH, presented the symbolic key to the Federal Office for Equipment, Information Technology, and Usage of the Bundeswehr, represented by Colonel Pharmacist Ullrich Kindling, and to the commander of the Central Medical Service of the Bundeswehr, General Chief Medical Officer Ralf Hoffmann. Other high-ranking guests attended the handover, including members of the German Bundestag and the Bavarian State Parliament.

Also present were personnel who will directly benefit from closing the capability gap: a future commander of the new Eagle V 6x6 and his driver. Naturally, both received the real vehicle key after the ceremony. "The modern equipment and the design of the vehicle make it easier for me to perform my duties as a commander even under difficult conditions," said Corporal Maximilian H., who serves as a squad leader in the medical training regiment in Lower Bavaria's Feldkirchen. His driver, Staff Sergeant Martin R., agrees: "The user-friendliness and operability have truly convinced me."

Generational Change Closes Capability

The switch from the predecessor Duro 3 Yak to the Eagle V 6x6 marks a milestone: The medium protected medical vehicle closes the capability gap for mobile medical first aid and for the protected, qualified land-based primary transport of patients.

Within the next twelve months, the Bundeswehr will receive a total of 80 Eagle V 6x6 vehicles. 77 vehicles will be deployed in the Central Medical Service of the Bundeswehr in the transport companies of the medical regiments and in the medical sections of the medical support centers. The remaining three vehicles will go to the Navy. The funding for the project was also made possible through the special fund for the Bundeswehr.

Most Modern Medical Vehicle in Its Class

With the medium protected medical vehicle, the troops will soon have one of the most modern military medical vehicles in the world at their disposal," said Lieutenant Commander Carsten S. from the Bundeswehr Command Health Care, who is responsible for the realization of the project.

That the troops were involved in the development particularly pleases the commander of the medical training regiment, Chief Medical Officer Melanie Heyde, as she was already involved in testing a prototype vehicle in 2022. "The ideas, impulses, and experiences from the troops were largely implemented one-to-one into the series vehicle," she reports gratefully.