Kärcher Futuretech has ceremoniously handed over the production unit of a newly developed mobile field kitchen to the President of the BAAINBw (Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support), Annette Lehnigk-Emden.
The company successfully won the tender for the “Mobile Field Kitchen” procurement project at the beginning of 2020. The aim was to develop a “field kitchen of the future” that is characterised by the greatest possible mobility and is equipped for operation in different climate zones around the world. The new field kitchen is to replace the TFK 250 model which has been used by the German Armed Forces since the 1980s.
“We are delighted to be making a strategically important contribution to the operational capability of our Bundeswehr with our mobile field kitchens,” said Hartmut Jenner, Chairman of the Management Board of Alfred Kärcher SE & Co. KG, at the handover in Schwaikheim. In her speech, Annette Lehnigk-Emden emphasised the special importance of catering for the troops and praised the rapid implementation of the project: “We have before us an outstanding example of good and goal-oriented cooperation between a public-sector client and a contractor from the German SME sector.”
The customised field kitchen developed by Kärcher Futuretech initially underwent an intensive two-year operational test phase by the German Armed Forces. In Norway and Spain, the heat and cold suitability was tested in extreme temperatures. Following the successful completion of the tests, the mobile field kitchen went into serial production in 2023. After delivery of the 85 systems that have been ordered, up to further 315 units can be called up from the framework agreement.
In his review of the collaboration on the project, the Managing Director of Kärcher Futuretech, Thomas Popp, emphasised the operational suitability of the mobile field kitchen and referred to the high technical standard of the components used: “The kitchen meets the latest hygiene standards, enables operation regardless of the weather and contributes significantly to energy savings through the use of diesel-powered cooking appliances, developed by Kärcher Futuretech.
