Helmond -- The new production facility of KMW subsidiary Dutch Defense Vehicle Systems (DDVS) has been officially opened today in Helmond, near Eindhoven (NL).

Attendees included the official patron of the ceremony, State Secretary Jack de Vries on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Defense, and guests from the political, industrial, and military domains. By founding this new production facility for military vehicle components and creating one of the most advanced competence centres for welding technologies in Europe, KMW underscores its commitment to the Dutch market and the strong will to cross-border cooperation.

"With the opening of our Dutch production site we are passing another milestone of our cooperation strategy for the European Defense Market", says Frank Haun, CEO of KMW.

Under the Dutch flag of its DDVS subsidiary, Europe's leader in protected wheeled and tracked vehicles will produce all hulls and several mission modules for the German-Dutch BOXER vehicle program. In total, the two states have ordered 472 of the highly protected, 8-wheeled vehicles. Furthermore, the Dutch FENNEK recconaisance vehicles will be provided logistical service and maintainence in Helmond as well.

The 100% KMW subsidiary has been founded in 2005 and was assigned with the assembly of the Dutch vehicles from the German- Dutch FENNEK program. Due to the consequent development of the 2 site, several additional business activities have been generated in Helmond, leading to the creation of a new production facility. The DDVS has thus become the most important competence centre for military land systems in the Netherlands and is building on a wide network of certified suppliers and research institutes complemented by the extensive system know-how of its parent company.