September 11, 2010: Germany is buying 70 more Eagle IV armored vehicles, mainly for use by German troops in Afghanistan. Last year, Germany bought twenty Eagle IVs configured as battlefield ambulances. Two years ago, Germany ordered 198 of Eagle IVs in various configurations. These wheeled armored vehicles weigh nine tons, and are 5.4 meters (16.7 feet) long and 2.1 meters wide. The 4x4 ambulance version can carry a driver, two medics and two patients. These vehicles are a bit larger than hummers, and heavier. They are armed with a remote control machine-gun turret on top. The Eagle vehicles have been serving in Afghanistan since 2003 and Germany got its first Eagle IVs in 2008. The Eagle series has been used by Swiss forces since the 1990s. Germany has already ordered or received about half the 672 Eagle IVs it plans to eventually acquire. The vehicles have proved very useful in Afghanistan, and popular with the German troops and police serving there.
Eagle IV is a Swiss design, first introduced in 2003 as an armored reconnaissance vehicle. Denmark has also bought some.
