Rheinmetall’s Lynx IFV in Ukraine: The World’s Most Complicated “Try Before You Buy”

Call it the world’s slowest test drive.

Lynx KF41 infantry fighting vehicle

On July 13, 2025, Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger popped up in BILD to assure the world that, yes, the German Lynx KF41 infantry fighting vehicle is still being tested in Ukraine.

If you forgot about it, you’re not alone; it’s been months since anyone mentioned the program. So, no, these aren’t rolling through the front just yet; the Ukrainians are keeping their single Lynx out of the shooting gallery, away from the front lines, possibly for fear of losing a very expensive piece of demo equipment.

Rheinmetall calls the Lynx “modular,” which is defense industry speak for “We can bolt all sorts of stuff to it.” The Lynx can swap out roles faster than my daughter changes college majors: infantry carrier, recon, command post, ambulance, you name it. But all jokes aside, I’m actually quite fond of the Lynx platform.

In theory, when the bureaucratic mess is settled, Ukraine will get an armored Lego set with all the accessories.

One Vehicle Delivered, Zero Decisions Made

So far, the great Ukrainian Lynx experiment has all the momentum of a stalled tank in spring mud.

At the end of 2024, the very first Lynx IFV made the journey from Rheinmetall’s Unterlüß plant to Ukrainian soil, marking what should have been a significant step in Ukraine’s armored modernization.

But since then? Nothing but radio silence. Despite CEO Armin Papperger’s earlier talk of providing up to ten Lynxes for evaluation, no follow-on shipments have materialized, and there’s been no clear word from either Rheinmetall or Kyiv on why things have gone quiet.