KNDS is betting that developing a new wheeled combat vehicle should not take years.
At MSPO 2026 in Poland, the company revealed CELERIS 8×8, a military-grade mobility platform built to compress the development of next-gen armored vehicles into less than 12 months.
The platform combines the core technologies required for an 8×8 chassis with the foundations for adding armor, weapons, and other mission equipment.
Instead of presenting customers with a fixed vehicle, KNDS can tailor these building blocks to different operational requirements, allowing each country to create its own locally produced platform.
A Head Start on Vehicle Design
The concept gives defense programs a ready-made technical foundation rather than forcing engineers to start with a blank page.
Its adaptable architecture allows customers to select protection systems and firepower packages based on how and where the resulting vehicle will operate.
A CELERIS-based design could therefore take on different battlefield roles while retaining a common mobility platform underneath.
KNDS said this approach could take a vehicle from an official program launch to the rollout of its first locally built example in under a year.
The company is also designing CELERIS for interoperability with NATO equipment, although it has not disclosed specifications covering its engine, weight, payload, protection, or compatible weapon systems.
Built Around Local Production
CELERIS enters the market as European countries push to build more military equipment at home and reduce their reliance on external supply chains.
Rather than shipping a complete off-the-shelf vehicle, KNDS intends to adjust the platform around a customer’s military needs and domestic industrial capabilities.
This approach could give local manufacturers a larger role in production, maintenance, and future upgrades while reducing the technical risks associated with a clean-sheet vehicle program.
For KNDS, CELERIS serves as both an 8×8 vehicle foundation and a faster route from national requirements to a locally produced combat platform.
