Daimler Truck Expands Global Defence Business

Defence growth Daimler Truck Expands Global Defence Business

2026-06-18 Source: Press release Daimler Truck AG | Translated by AI 4 min Reading Time

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Daimler Truck is significantly expanding its global defence business, investing heavily in production, development and support capabilities while targeting approx. 1.2 billion USD in defence revenue by 2028.

Mercedes-Benz Arocs for the defence sector.(Source: Daimler Truck AG) — Mercedes-Benz Arocs for the defence sector.
(Source: Daimler Truck AG)

The defence business is becoming increasingly important for Daimler Truck. With the new umbrella brand "Daimler Truck Defence", the company is consolidating its global defence activities and aligning the business for sustained international growth. In future, the portfolio will not only include vehicles from Mercedes-Benz Trucks but will gradually be expanded to incorporate solutions from additional global Daimler Truck vehicle portfolios and brands. Daimler Truck is also investing a mid-three-digit million euro amount in expanding its development, production, sales and service capacities over the coming years. The goal is to provide armed forces worldwide with an even broader range of military mobility and logistics solutions.

Around 1,000 employees currently work in Daimler Truck's defence business. The growth strategy for this segment is being shaped primarily at the Wörth am Rhein (Germany) site and will generate additional demand for highly qualified specialists. The company has set a revenue target of €1 billion (approx. 1.2 billion USD) for its defence business by 2028.

Karin Rådström, CEO of Daimler Truck, said: "The defence sector is a central element of Daimler Truck's growth strategy. We are therefore making targeted investments in our production facilities, the development of new solutions and our sales and service network. At the same time, we are systematically transferring Daimler Truck's global strengths across regions, brands and competencies to this business segment."

Dennis Kinzelmann, CEO of Daimler Truck Defence, added: "Demand for reliable military mobility is growing worldwide. With our global manufacturing capabilities, resilient supply chains, strong partnerships and expanded portfolio, we can deliver military vehicles and solutions quickly, in high quality and at large scale. With Daimler Truck Defence, we are bringing together the strength of our global brands and expertise under one roof. Our objective is to become one of the leading providers of military mobility through our global technology and production network. For soldiers, reliability, rapid availability and effective operational support are what matter. These principles will continue to guide our actions and growth strategy."

Daimler Truck Defence consolidates activities for greater efficiency

With Daimler Truck Defence, the company is creating a unified market presence. Customers will gain access to specialist expertise and tailored solutions for their specific operational requirements from a single source. Daimler Truck plans to offer vehicle portfolios and brands from across its global operations as military commercial vehicles in their respective markets. The new structure will both broaden the available product portfolio and create synergies between products, processes and business units across different brands.

Investment in capacity and industrial scaling

As part of its strategic expansion, Daimler Truck will significantly increase its development, production, sales and service capacities over the coming years. This will support a broader product portfolio and enable military vehicle contracts to be executed at substantially higher volumes. The company will leverage its global industrial footprint to achieve this objective.

In addition to highly customised project-based business, Daimler Truck will place greater emphasis on fleet and sustainment programmes characterised by numerous vehicle variants and high production volumes. Daimler Truck's manufacturing facilities allow for close integration between civilian series production and defence-specific expertise.

The Wörth am Rhein (Germany) and Molsheim (France) sites form the backbone of defence production in Europe and enable military vehicle variants to be integrated into existing production lines. Furthermore, the company offers local assembly of Mercedes-Benz trucks equipped for military applications in customer countries.

Daimler Truck is also expanding its global service and support network. With approximately 5,000 workshops across more than 160 countries and comprehensive spare parts availability, the company already supports high operational readiness for vehicles deployed internationally. The planned expansion will further improve spare parts availability and service responsiveness worldwide.

Defence business becomes a key strategic growth area

Daimler Truck views defence as a major growth driver for the coming years. Recent contract wins include a large order from the German Armed Forces for military logistics vehicles in the high three-digit unit range, a successful Canadian Armed Forces tender in cooperation with General Dynamics Land Systems covering at least 1,500 logistics trucks, and a framework agreement with the French Armed Forces in partnership with Arquus for 7,000 trucks based on the robust and highly off-road-capable Zetros platform.

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These programmes illustrate Daimler Truck's strategic focus on European and transatlantic partnerships combined with reliable industrial delivery capabilities.

From a technology perspective, Daimler Truck Defence draws on the extensive modular toolkit of the company's civilian vehicle platforms and cooperates with partner companies to advance innovations such as autonomous driving technologies and drone integration.

Significantly expanded portfolio for military applications

Daimler Truck is systematically expanding its defence portfolio in line with the requirements of modern military operations. In future, the offering will cover an even broader range of vehicle solutions, from light multi-purpose vehicles to heavy tactical logistics platforms equipped for mission-specific requirements. Customers will benefit from greater choice across a wider price range.

Through the inclusion of additional brands, customers will also gain access to proven and locally available vehicles adapted for military use in their respective markets.

Beyond the vehicle business itself, Daimler Truck is pursuing an integrated offering that encompasses development, production, system integration, partner networks and long-term service and lifecycle support. The company is increasingly focusing on modular platform concepts and jointly developed system solutions to meet customer requirements quickly, flexibly and in an operationally focused manner.

Daimler Truck showcases defence portfolio at Eurosatory in Paris

At Eurosatory 2026, France's largest defence exhibition, Daimler Truck is presenting Unimog, Zetros and Arocs vehicles with a variety of specialised bodies and equipment packages in cooperation with renowned partner companies. The exhibition takes place in Paris from 15 to 19 June 2026.