Seven new PANTHER 6×6 units mark Rosenbauer production number 3,000
Iain Hoey
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Rosenbauer order for Athens airport PANTHER replacement
Rosenbauer is set to deliver its 3,000th PANTHER 6×6 to Athens International Airport as part of a seven-vehicle order.
Rosenbauer announced it had won an international tender to supply Greece’s largest airport with seven fourth-generation PANTHER 6×6 vehicles.
The seven new vehicles will replace seven PANTHER units from the existing airport fleet from the 1998 model year.
Vehicle configuration and onboard systems
The order includes three PANTHER 6×6 vehicles with a high reach extendable turret (HRET) and four vehicles with a classic roof turret.
The HRET units have an extendable telescopic arm that reaches a height of around 16 metres.
The arm is fitted with a piercing tool intended for penetration into aircraft fuselages.
The turret can dispense water, foam or extinguishing powder.
The roof-turret vehicles have electrically remote-controlled turrets with flow rates of up to 9,000 litres per minute.
The roof turrets have throw ranges of well over 80 metres.
The company said the award decision also considered pump and admixture systems, turret control, driver assistance and safety systems, crew cabin ergonomics, off-road mobility and robustness.
The specification also includes integrated thermal imaging and illumination solutions.
Athens airport operating context and production milestone
Athens International Airport opened in March 2001 and has two runways.
The airport currently handles an average of around 770 flights per day, with higher levels in the summer months.
Rosenbauer stated the delivery of the 3,000th PANTHER also marks a production milestone for its airport firefighting vehicle line.
The company traced the line from large tank firefighting vehicles in the 1950s, through the SIMBA series in the 1980s, to the debut of the first PANTHER in 1991.
It reported that more than 2,000 PANTHERs were delivered between 1991 and 2020, with over 1,000 more added between 2020 and 2026.
The company listed Geneva, Atlanta and Athens as examples of airports where the PANTHER is in operation.
The 3,000th PANTHER 6×6 is part of the seven-vehicle delivery planned for Athens International Airport.