Nooteboom and Rheinmetall to jointly develop military trailers

Nooteboom and Reheinmetall signed a co-operation agreement to work together on military HET systems. Photo: Nooteboom/Rheinmetall

Dutch trailer manufacturer Nooteboom and German heavy industrials group Rheinmetall will work together to develop and market military Heavy Equipment Trailer (HET) products. The two companies signed a co-operation agreement to that effect in March 2026.

The move is in response to an increase in demand for heavy military transport in Europe. A joint statement from the two companies said it “is related to the growing operational use of heavy wheeled and tracked vehicles, as well as large-scale NATO procurement programmes for battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and self-propelled howitzers.”

What they bring

Nooteboom is experienced in designing, building and servicing trailers for payloads up to 200 tonnes. Rheinmetall is experienced in building military vehicles and said it has efficient industrial manufacturing capacity and access to markets worldwide.

This partnership is said to “combine Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles’ highly mobile tractors with a fitting trailer system, enabling Rheinmetall to provide comprehensive, vertically integrated HET solutions.”

HET is an integrated tractor and trailer system designed to transport heavy tracked and wheeled vehicles, including recovery and armoured engineer vehicles.