Daimler Truck Defence expands military truck production

Daimler Truck Defence is expanding its global military vehicle portfolio with new contracts and a growth strategy centered on its Wörth plant. The company has secured a major Bundeswehr order for military logistics vehicles in the three-digit unit range and a framework agreement with the French Armed Forces for up to 7,000 trucks based on the Zetros platform.

France’s Ministry of the Armed Forces selected Daimler Truck and partner Arquus in January to build trucks for its PL6T program, with deliveries running for more than ten years. Daimler builds the chassis for this program at its plants in Wörth, Germany, and Molsheim, France, while Arquus handles militarization, protected cabs, and integration at its French sites. France is expected to become the company's largest defense customer, closely followed by Canada.

Global expansion through existing vehicle platforms

Daimler leverages commercial truck platforms like Zetros and Arocs across multiple markets to deliver military logistics solutions. The company has a contract with the Canadian Armed Forces for at least 1,500 logistics trucks for its Logistics Vehicle Modernization program, with chassis built at Wörth and partners adding bodies and local content. Daimler also sells Zetros trucks into Ukraine, where most vehicles supplied are Zetros models.

The defense lineup covers a broad weight range and is built on shared commercial components.

In the U.S., where buyers are moving toward commercial off-the-shelf procurement, Daimler supports this by modifying baseline trucks already in production. The company is focusing on modular platform architectures and system solutions for rapid, flexible delivery.

Long-term sustainment and aftersales network

With defense customers typically keeping vehicles in service for 20 to 30 years, long-term aftersales support is critical. Daimler Truck’s global aftersales network spans more than 160 countries, using its civil parts logistics backbone to move spares with the same speed as the commercial side. Approximately 5,000 service locations support vehicle operational readiness worldwide.

Dennis Kinzelmann, CEO of Daimler Truck Defence, stated that demand for reliable military mobility is growing worldwide. "Scaling is one of the key challenges in the defense industry these days," he said. The company plans to offer military vehicle solutions based on additional global group vehicle portfolios and brands, expanding beyond the current Mercedes-Benz Trucks lineup.

Growth strategy centered on Wörth and global partnerships

The growth strategy is being driven primarily from the Wörth site in Germany, where about 1,000 employees work in the defense business today, with expectations to grow. Manufacturing facilities in Wörth am Rhein and Molsheim, France, form the backbone of defence manufacturing in Europe. The company is building an integrated offering including engineering, manufacturing, system integration, partner ecosystems, and long-term support.

Increased scalability will be achieved through global engineering, manufacturing, sales and service capabilities and strategic partnerships. The company will focus on fleet and sustainment programs benefiting from wide vehicle variants and production volumes, and will offer local assembly of militarized trucks in customer countries. Daimler Truck established the 'Daimler Truck Defence' brand to create a unified worldwide market presence.

Daimler will shows its Unimog, Zetros and Arocs vehicles at the Eurosatory 2026 defense exhibition in Paris from 15-19 June.