The DURO (''Durable Robust'') is a series of wheeled, multi-purpose military transport vehicles produced by

General Dynamics European Land Systems General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDLS) is an automotive and arms manufacturer spread across Europe, with a headquarter in Madrid, Spain. It is a business unit of General Dynamics which consolidated in one structure all European subsidiari ...

MOWAG Mowag is a Swiss company founded in 1950, which develops, designs and produces armoured fighting vehicles for military applications in both land-only and amphibious configurations. These vehicles have gross vehicle weights ranging from 9 tonn ...

in both four and six wheel drive. It was initially developed for Switzerland by Bucher-Guyer AG in

Niederweningen Niederweningen is a municipality in the district of Dielsdorf in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. History Niederweningen is first mentioned between 1096 and 1111 as ''Waningen''. In 1269 it was mentioned as ''Nidirunweningin''. The railwa ...

, Switzerland. An initial 3000 vehicles order for the Swiss Armed Forces came through in 1994. In January 2003 the production was transferred to

Kreuzlingen Kreuzlingen () is a municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau in north-eastern Switzerland. It is the seat of the district and is the second-largest city of the canton, after Frauenfeld, with a population of about 22 ...

. Over 4,000 DURO 4x4 and 6x6 vehicles are now in service worldwide. The main customers are Switzerland, Germany, Venezuela, and the UK. In addition to these, the vehicle is used in many other countries for special purposes.

DURO I

DURO II

DURO III

The DURO III is available as a

4x4 A four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, is a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case provi ...

6x6 Six-wheel drive (6WD or 6×6) is an all-wheel drive drivetrain configuration of three axles with at least two wheels on each axle capable of being driven simultaneously by the vehicle's engine. Unlike four-wheel drive drivetrains, the config ...

, and an armoured 6x6 with modular shelter.

DURO IIIP / DURO GMTF

The DURO IIIP ( also named DURO GMTF) is a version only available in

form. It is heavily armoured and has a remote controlled machine-gun. It is used by the Danish Army as an ambulance, and by the Swiss Army in the roles of APC, NBC-Reconnaissance and ambulance in international peace support missions of

Swissint SWISSINT (acronym for Swiss Armed Forces International Command) is the center of the Swiss Armed Forces for foreign missions. The competence center is located in Oberdorf at Stans, Canton of Nidwalden. Tasks International peace support is one ...

. The DURO IIIP is also used by Germany.

YAK

The YAK is an upgraded, ballistic and mine-protected, variant of the DURO IIIP 6x6 chassis used by the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

. It is made by

Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles GmbH (RMMV) is a joint venture company between German companies MAN Truck & Bus AG and Rheinmetall AG. RMMV is part of Rheinmetall's Vehicle Systems Division. Rheinmetall AG holds a 51% stake in RMMV, with the ...

. The

uses the YAK for a variety of roles. The first batch of DURO III vehicles for

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

consisted of 30 vehicles, consisting of ambulance (12), Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) (10), military police (four) and support vehicles for the LUNA Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (four). Final deliveries were made late in 2005. Another 100 vehicles were ordered, with deliveries between 2006 and 2009. The actual contract covered the supply of 100 Yak chassis and a total of 114 bodies in the following configurations: 31 × mobile medical team; 8 × prisoner transport; 6 × water cannon; 23 × command post for military police; 23 × air base security; 2 × military geography; 21 × explosive ordnance disposal. Late in 2007 an order was placed by the German Army for another batch of seven Yak vehicles, six additional LUNA ground stations and a BIO reconnaissance vehicle. In 2008, RMMV delivered three armoured NBC field laboratories to the Swiss Army which are similar to the Yak.

Specifications

The 420 Duro GMTF ordered by the Swiss Army are equipped with a

Protector RWS The Protector RWS is a remote controlled weapon station, remotely controlled weapons station (RWS) that can be mounted to vehicles and stationary platforms. It has been in full scale production since December 2001. It is manufactured by Kongsberg ...

and a diesel engine Cummins ISB5-9 (275 hp). 232 Duro-3P were exported, and are equipped with a diesel engine

Cummins Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, electric vehicle components, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipmen ...

6BTA-5.9 (245 hp).

MOWAG Eagle IV and V

The MOWAG Eagle IV and V were based on the DURO IIIP chassis.

Civil use

The 4X4 and 6X6 Duro was also offered in various configurations as a fire engine: *Emergency vehicle for up to 16 firefighters *Hose laying vehicle with 2 x 1000m hoses. *Small fire engine with fire 800l tank *Liquid transporter 800l water & 100l foam. These vehicles are in use in different fire units in Switzerland, such as the fire departments of Bern, Frick, Baar. In the 1990s, consideration was given to introducing the Duro to the fire service of the former GDR as a substitute for the Robur LO. Robur and Duro have similar exterior dimensions, therefore existing fire houses required no structural alterations for new vehicles. The conversion failed due to the purchase price of Duro, which exceeded the financial strength of the fire departments. The 4x4 Duro was also offered as a commercial vehicle for communities and municipalities as dump trucks or with solid aluminum construction as service vehicles, but there were no significant sales. Also in the configuration as a civilian ambulance, there were no successes. A small number of vehicles are provided as expedition vehicles, privately owned. Converted from civilian companies or individuals as offroad campers, coach expedition and expedition vehicle based on 4x4 and 6x6 Duro. The Singapore Civil Defence Force uses the LFAV, a vehicle based on the chassis of the Duro, the ''Red Rhino'' ''.'' The Johannesburg fire department purchased Duro as firefighting vehicles.

Operators

Current operators

* Policía Boliviana * * * * * * *

Procurement

DURO 4×4

* civil protection (61) ** LFAV (Light Fire Attack firefighting Vehicle, derived from Duro I chassis) * , city of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

(14) **firefighting trucks * (3'000) ** 1'940 troop transport ''"Lastwagen Mannschaftsaufbau"'' variant ** 24 to operate the Ranger 95 UAV (from 1999 to 2020) *** 8 commanding stations ''"Kdow L"'' *** 8 launcher ''"WA Katapult ADS 95"'' *** 8 working station ''"Wew I Wa ADS 95"'' ** 28 Duro + trailer include meteorologic radar + balloons for the artillery ''"Peilw Wet P-763 Kasch"'', (providing temperature / humidity / wind profiles of the atmosphere to the INTAFF artillery commanding system). ** quantity unknown command vehicle, ''"Kdow LWA"'' ** quantity unknown artillery command vehicle, ''"Fkw L WA M2+ M INTAFF"'' ** quantity unknown, communications vehicle with a trailer, ''"Fhrw L KA FIS"'' (4 SE-235 + 1 SE-240 radios) ** quantity unknown workshop vehicle + trailer, ''"Werkstattwagen DIFAMO"'' ** quantity unknown, workshop vehicle, ''"Repw LWA A5 Spz"'' ** (2'200 were modernised, so among the drones mentioned above )

DURO 6×6

* (7) ** 3 Ambulance vehicles ''"Sanw sch WA gepz"'' ** 4 APC ''"Lastw L gepz"'' (used with

KFOR KFOR may refer to: * KFOR (AM), a radio station (1240 AM) licensed to Lincoln, Nebraska, United States, * KFOR-TV, a television station (channel 4 analog/27 digital) licensed to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, * KFOR-TV (Nebraska), a defun ...

)

DURO-2 4×4 and 6×6

* (6) ** EOD variants ** Maintenance variant * (57) * (124) ** 6 EOD vehicles ** 118 communication systems carriers * (358)

DURO-3

* (29) ** 29 Ambulance ($ 26 million / 190 million DKr) * (205) ** 30 Duro–3 ** 175 YAK *** 12 Ambulance vehicles *** 4

Feldjäger The ''Feldjäger'' () are Germany's military police. The term ''Feldjäger'', literally meaning field huntsmen or field Jäger, has a long tradition and dates back to the mid-17th century. History The first modern ''Feldjäger'' ...

(MP) *** 4

Luna Luna commonly refers to: * Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin, Spanish and other languages * Luna (goddess) In Sabine and ancient Roman religion and myth, Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon (Latin ''Lūna'' ). She is often presented as t ...

UAV launcher / receptor *** 10 EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) *** 100 transport vehicles (tactical transport, electronic warfare, etc) reinforced protection * (437) ** 420 DURO–3P (GMTF) APC *** tranche 1, 220 ordered in 2008 **** 6 DURO–3P APC for SWISSINT (used with the

Swisscoy Swisscoy (short for ''Swiss Company'') is a unit of the Swiss Armed Forces. Consisting of a contingent of 195 troops at most, the unit is deployed in Kosovo as part of the NATO-led KFOR international peacekeeping force. Swisscoy moved into Kosovo ...

) **** 4 DURO–3P ambulance among GMTF for SWISSINT (used with the

) Message sur l’acquisition de matériel d’armement
entscheidsuche.ch *** tranche 2, 70 ordered in 2010 *** tranche 3, 130 ordered in 2013 ** 12 DURO–3P

CBRN Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense (CBRN defense) or Nuclear, biological, and chemical protection (NBC protection) is a class of protective measures taken in situations where chemical, biological, radiological, or nucl ...

detection vehicle ordered in 2008, in service since 2015 ** 5 DURO–3P Explosive Ordinance Disposal EOD (5 delivered in 2008) * (66) **18 EOD vehicles ** 48 communication systems carriers

Gallery

File:Duro I WE in Ermatingen (cropped).jpg, MOWAG Duro I WE by the Swiss Army File:MOWAG Duro IIIP für die Schweizer Armee.jpg, MOWAG Duro IIIP ordered by the Swiss Army File:GMTF_11Pl-2t_6x6_GL_DURO_IIIP_(11089643403).jpg, DURO IIIP / Duro GMTF

Swiss Army The Swiss Armed Forces (; ; ; ; ) are the military and security force of Switzerland, consisting of land and air service branches. Under the country's militia system, regular soldiers constitute a small part of the military and the rest are ...

File:Mowag_Ambulance_Front.jpg, MOWAG Duro IIIP Ambulance from the

References

External links

Duro 3 on the Homepage of the German ArmyDuro IIIP brochure
{{Modern IFV and APC Armoured fighting vehicles of Germany Armoured fighting vehicles of the post–Cold War period Armoured personnel carriers Military trucks of Switzerland Off-road vehicles Post–Cold War military vehicles of Germany Rheinmetall Military vehicles introduced in the 1990s Military vehicles of Switzerland Armoured fighting vehicles of Switzerland Military vehicles of the United Kingdom Armoured fighting vehicles of the United Kingdom