Yorkshire manufacturer supplies NATO with fire trucks for Afghanistan

Yorkshire-based fire fighting vehicle manufacturer Rosenbauer UK has supplied NATO with two fire trucks which touched down in Afghanistan earlier this month.

The two 6×6 Panther fire trucks were transported to Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport by the world’s largest operational cargo jet.

The £1.1m contract was secured by Rosenbauer UK’s managing director Oliver North, who started his career in the military at the age of 17.

He said: “In 2017, many airports across the UK entrusted us to provide Panthers to meet their demanding requirements, but it’s fantastic to have delivered these state-of-the-art appliances to NATO.

“Supplying this military alliance with the best airport trucks available on the market is a particular source of fulfilment for me. I served in the Royal Engineers for just over seven years, so it’s personally a really proud moment to provide NATO with what is the best product in our line up — the Rosenbauer Panther — which will serve its time watching over Kabul’s airport.”

This deal is one of 11 agreements secured in the airport industry for Rosenbauer UK in 2017, giving the company a 100% contract win rate in this sector.

This has helped to propel the firm’s order book for 2018, which shows a 120% increase in turnover compared with the previous 12 months, up to £20m.