What started as an order for a few Airport Rescue Fire Fighting units has ballooned into a massive order of 71 ARFF units for the United States Air Force (USAF).
George Bergamini, Rosenbauer America’s Government Sales Manager, began working with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) in October of 2015. The goal was to open doors with government sales that had not been previously pursued. In the past three years, DLA has been a bid provider for many opportunities for Rosenbauer.
“Rosenbauer knew going into this bid process that a sound, the quality product was needed to meet all specifications for the bid,” said Bergamini. “With the introduction of our newly designed Panther and highly competitive pricing, we felt that a great package could be provided.”
Features of Panther units
To date, Rosenbauer America is scheduled to build 32 Panther 6x6 units, of which three will also have the Rosenbauer Stinger HRET (High Reach Extendable Turret) piercing nozzle. The remaining 39 ARFF apparatus will be Panther 4x4 units. The total contract award is nearly $50 million.
While the locations that will be receiving these new units both in the United States and overseas remain classified, some of the features of these special ARFF units for the USAF will include ultra-high pressure pumps from Waterous, twin disc transmissions, and Volvo D16 Tier IV inline six-cylinder 16.1-liter engines.
Due to the high volume of the order, production will take place at several Rosenbauer production facilities with plans to begin the delivery process in June of 2019.