Windhoeker Maschinenfabrik (WMF) is a Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

n defense contractor

Defense contractor

A defense contractor is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a military department of a government. Products typically include military aircraft, ships, vehicles, weaponry, and electronic systems...

 located in Windhoek

Windhoek

Windhoek is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level. The 2001 census determined Windhoek's population was 233,529...

, Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

 and operated by the Namibian Defence Force. WMF designs and manufactures monocoque

Monocoque

Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...

 V-hull

V-hull

The V-hull is a type of vehicle armor design used on wheeled armored personnel carriers , infantry mobility vehicles and infantry fighting vehicles...

 armoured combat vehicles. WMF is responsible for the armoured bodywork fabrication while engines, transmissions and axles are built by MAN.

History

Windhoeker Maschinenfabrik was founded in 1939. It later provided equipment for the South African Defence Force

South African Defence Force

The South African Defence Force was the South African armed forces from 1957 until 1994. The former Union Defence Force was renamed to the South African Defence Force in the Defence Act of 1957...

 and South West African Territorial Force. In 1977 WMF began manufacturing Mine Protected Vehicle

V-hull

The V-hull is a type of vehicle armor design used on wheeled armored personnel carriers , infantry mobility vehicles and infantry fighting vehicles...

s. After the Independence of Namibia

Namibian War of Independence

See also South African Border War.The Namibian War of Independence, also known as the South African Border War, which lasted from 1966 to 1988, was a guerrilla war, which the nationalist South-West Africa People's Organization and others, fought against the apartheid government in South...

 from South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 in 1998, WMF was nationalized

Nationalization

Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...

. The company functions as a subsidiary of Namibian Defence Force.

WMF Products

WMF performs the following services:

• armouring of plant and construction machinery
• Refurbishing of other armoured vehicles such as the Casspir
  Casspir
  The Casspir is a landmine-protected personnel carrier that has been in use in South Africa for over 20 years. It is a four wheeled armoured vehicle, used for transport of troops. It can hold a crew of two, plus 12 additional soldiers and associated gear. The Casspir was unique in design when...
  
  .

WMF produces the following 4x4 Mine protected vehicle

Mine Protected Vehicle

Mine Protected Vehicle may refer to:*Armoured personnel carrier*Medium Mine Protected Vehicle*Mine Protected Vehicle India*MRAP...

s (MPV)

• Wolf I,
• Wolf II,
• Wolf Turbo III - at 14 tons,
• WerWolf Mk 1 and Mk II - at 10 tons.

Humanitarian Engineering and Consulting (HEC), the R&D branch for MgM, has designed a special series of WerWolf called the HEC-Wolf, which specifically supports the requirements of Humanitarian Demining operations. The HEC-Wolf is somewhat de-militarized in that it cannot carry the wide range of weapons which normally are associated with this vehicle.

Users

WMFs customers are:

• Namibian Defence Force
• United Nations
  United Nations
  The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
  
   agencies,
• Humanitarian agencies such as:
  • Red Cross,
  • Doctors Without Borders
  • Stiftung Menschen gegen Minen e. V. better known as MgM
• selected Film Makers and TV Crews.

Location

• Physical address

13 Bessemer Street,

Southern Industrial Area

Windhoek, Namibia

• Postal Address:

P.O. Box 5013

Windhoek, Namibia

External links

• Official Page
• HEC
• MgM official site