Rosenbauer Panther Explained

Rosenbauer Panther
Type:Airport Crash Tender
Manufacturer:Rosenbauer
Production:1991
Assembly:Europe, North America and Asia
Designer:Kristian Fenzl
Platform:Rosenbauer Simba
Engine:Volvo D16
Powerout:700hp, 1400hp
Transmission:6-speed, 7-speed
Drivetrain:4×4, 6×6, 8×8
Length:
  • 10,500 mm 4×4
  • 11,460 mm 6×6s
  • 11,710 mm 6×6
  • 11,785 mm 6×6 electric
  • 12,300 mm 8×8
Width:
  • 3,000 mm 4×4, 6×6, 8×8
  • 2,500 mm 6×6s
  • 2,997.2 mm 6×6 electric
Height:
  • 3,650 mm 4×4, 6×6s
  • 3,657.6mm 6×6 electric
  • 3,750 mm 6×6
  • 4,000 mm 8×8
Weight:
  • 26,000 kg 4×4
  • 33,000 kg 6×6s
  • 39,000 kg 6×6
  • 40,505 kg 6×6 electric
  • 52,000 kg 8×8c
Predecessor:Rosenbauer Simba

Rosenbauer Panther is a model of airport crash tender produced by Austrian manufacturer Rosenbauer.

It exists in 4×4, 6×6 and 8×8 versions, with a 6×6 electric version in development. The 8×8 version accommodates 14,500 litres (3,830 gallons) of fire extinguishing agents and a maximum speed of 140 km/h (87 mph), with an operating weight of 40 tons.[1]

History

The Panther was released in 1991 and was the second airport crash tender vehicle from the manufacturer as a successor of the Rosenbauer Simba, which was discontinued in 1996. Panther was showcased at the Hanover show. The new vehicle was designed by Kristian Fenzl based on a MAN 36.1000 VFAEG chassis, powered by a MAN 22 litre V12 charge-cooled diesel engine producing 735kW (990hp) at 2,300rpm. Weighing at 36 tons, the vehicle was capable of accelerating from 0-80 km/h in 25 seconds with a top speed of 140 km/h, also having an automatic gearbox and a gradability of 60%.

Generations

First generation (1994–2004)

The first-generation Rosenbauer Panther was introduced in 1994. It featured a box-shaped cab design with a flat two-piece windshield, angular bodywork, and a mechanically simpler electrical system. Early models used halogen lighting and conventional mirror assemblies. This generation established the basic layout that would define later Panther models.

Second generation (2005–2014)

The second-generation Panther entered production in 2005. It introduced a redesigned curved windshield, a more rounded cab profile, and improved aerodynamics. The vehicle incorporated upgraded pump systems and electronics while retaining the overall proportions of the first generation. This version remained in production for nearly a decade and was widely adopted by international airports and military air bases.

Third generation (2015–2020)

Rosenbauer launched the third-generation Panther in 2015. This version featured an updated cab with more angular styling, fully integrated LED lighting, revised mirror housings, and a more modern dashboard layout. Mechanical improvements included upgraded engines, enhanced pump performance, and improved suspension options. The third generation is visually identified by its aggressive front fascia and more streamlined body panels.

Fourth generation (2021–present)The fourth-generation Panther was unveiled in 2021. It introduced a complete redesign of the cab with expanded visibility, thin LED light bars, and a modular electronics platform. This generation supports hybrid and alternative-powertrain configurations and includes improved safety systems such as advanced driver-assistance features. It is currently the newest iteration of the Panther family.

The Panther can carry 10,000-14,000 litres of water, 1,000-2,000 litres of foaming agent and up to 500 kg of powder. The vehicle usually has an 8×8 drivetrain, but smaller vehicles with 4×4 and 6×6 drivetrain were also manufactured. These became available in May 1992.[2]

Models

Capacity

!Models!Water (ltr)!Foam (ltr)!Powder (kg)!Output (l/min)
Panther 4×46,2007502507,000
Panther 6×6s9,1001,2002506,500
Panther 6×611,4001,4002509,000
Panther 6×6 electric 12,0001438.52507949.4
Panther 8×812,500750×25009,000[3]

Operators

Royal Australian Air Force

Vienna International Airport,[4] Innsbruck Airport, Linz Airport

Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh

Minsk National Airport[5]

Belgian Air Force, Brussels Airport, Liège Airport

Navegación Aérea y Aeropuertos Bolivianos[6]

São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport

Sarajevo International Airport[7]

Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana

Vasil Levski Sofia Airport

Aeroportos e Segurança Aérea

Phnom Penh International Airport,[8] Siem Reap International Airport, Sihanouk International Airport[9]

Toronto Pearson International Airport[10]

Beijing Capital International Airport,[11] Tianjin Binhai International Airport

Hong Kong International Airport

Macau International Airport[12]

Gabriel Vargas Santos Airport, El Edén International Airport, Alfredo Vásquez Cobo International Airport[13]

Zagreb Airport,[14] Split Airport

Larnaca International Airport[15]

Václav Havel Airport Prague

Royal Danish Air Force, Copenhagen Airport

Greenland Airports

Quito International Airport

Cairo International Airport

Nadi International Airport[16]

Helsinki Airport [17]

Charles de Gaulle Airport, Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport

La Tontouta International Airport

Dortmund Airport, Frankfurt Airport, Munich Airport, Nuremberg Airport, Stuttgart Airport

Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport

Indira Gandhi International Airport, Kempegowda International Airport, Cochin International Airport

Ahwaz Airport[18]

Baghdad International Airport

Dublin Airport, Ireland West Airport, Shannon Airport, Donegal Airport

Israeli Air Force, Ramon Airport

Japan Air Self-Defense Force, Kansai International Airport,[19] Hanamaki Airport, Sendai Airport

King Hussein International Airport[20]

Astana International Airport[21]

Riga International Airport

Kaunas International Airport,[22] Palanga International Airport

Luxembourg Airport

Malta International Airport[23]

Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport

Podgorica Airport,[24] Tivat Airport

Mohammed V International Airport

Mandalay International Airport[25]

Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Rotterdam The Hague Airport

Queen Beatrix International Airport[26]

Princess Juliana International Airport[27]

Wellington Airport, Auckland Airport, Christchurch Airport[28]

Lae Nadzab Airport[29]

Peruvian Air Force, Jorge Chávez International Airport

Ninoy Aquino International Airport

Warsaw Chopin Airport, Kraków John Paul II International Airport

Lisbon Airport

Vnukovo International Airport[30]

Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport[31]

George F. L. Charles Airport[32]

King Khalid International Airport

Changi Airport

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, Niš Constantine the Great Airport

Bratislava Airport

Fraport Aviation Academy

Lanseria International Airport

Gyeongnam Fire Department, Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant,[33] Incheon International Airport

Taoyuan Fire Department,[34] Kaohsiung International Airport, Tainan Airport

Suvarnabhumi Airport, Chiang Mai International Airport, U-Tapao International Airport

Oecusse Airport

Tunis–Carthage International Airport[35]

Istanbul Airport

Boryspil International Airport[36]

Heathrow Airport, Edinburgh Airport, Belfast International Airport, Glasgow Airport

Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport[37]

L.F. Wade International Airport[38]

Gibraltar International Airport

United States Air Force,[39] Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Port of Seattle

Rivera International Airport, Nueva Hespérides International Airport

Noi Bai International Airport, Tan Son Nhat International Airport,[40] Da Nang International Airport[41]

In popular culture

The Rosenbauer Panther appears in the 2011 film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, where the character Sentinel Prime transforms into a 2001 Panther 6×6 airport crash tender. The truck used for filming had a unique red-and-black color scheme not typically used for U.S. airport ARFF vehicles.[42]

See also

References

Notes

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Rosenbauer Panther. Bloomberg L.P.. 3 Feb 2015 .
  2. Web site: Panther goes on the prowl 21st May 1992 The Commercial Motor Archive . 2023-05-19 . archive.commercialmotor.com.
  3. Web site: Modern fire fighting vehicles Rosenbauer PANTHER . 2023-05-20 . www.rosenbauer.com . de.
  4. Web site: Wieshofer . Markus . 2019-03-01 . The PANTHER at Vienna International Airport . 2025-12-13 . Rosenbauer Blog . en-GB.
  5. Web site: Verification . 2025-12-13 . tochka.by.
  6. Web site: Piñera . Abraham . 2021-04-30 . Over the Road of Death to the scene of the emergency: Five PANTHER for Bolivia . 2025-12-14 . Rosenbauer Blog . en-GB.
  7. Web site: Bosnian . Flying . 2024-01-08 . Bosnia and Herzegovina Aviation News : ✈ State of the art fire engine for Sarajevo Airport . 2025-12-13 . Bosnia and Herzegovina Aviation News.
  8. Web site: Seangly . Phak . Phnom Penh airport stages large-scale crash simulation exercises . 2025-12-13 . en-US.
  9. Web site: Sao . Samphors . 2020-10-13 . Sihanoukville Airport Runway Expansion Complete . 2025-12-15 . Construction & Property News . en-US.
  10. Web site: chris . 2020-06-16 . Rosenbauer America Outfits Members of Canadian ARFF Operations . 2025-12-13 . Firefighter Nation: Fire Rescue - Firefighting News and Community . en-US.
  11. Web site: 首都机场引进美洲豹新型消防车-中国民航网 . 2025-12-13 . caacnews.com.cn.
  12. Web site: CAM :: Macau International Airport Co. Ltd. . 2025-12-13 . www.camacau.com.
  13. Web site: Aeronáutica Civil dotó al aeropuerto El Edén de una moderna máquina de bomberos . 2025-12-14 . Eje21 . es.
  14. Web site: Zagreb Airport Firefighting and rescue unit . 2025-12-15 . zagreb-airport.hr.
  15. News: New Fire Rescue Vehicles . http://web.archive.org/web/20240917185755/https://www.hermesairports.com/corporate/press-office/media-releases/new-fire-rescue-vehicles . 2024-09-17 . 2025-12-14 . en-US.
  16. Web site: Fiji Airports Announces Arrival of New Fire Fighting Vehicles to Enhance Safety and Operations . 2025-12-13 . www.aci-asiapac.aero . en.
  17. Web site: [email protected] . 2019-04-08 . Here come the 37-ton “Panthers” – Introducing the new rescue vehicles of Helsinki Airport . 2025-12-15 . Airport Suppliers . en-GB.
  18. Web site: Test and delivery of two 6×6 Panther fire trucks to Ahwaz Airport . 2025-12-14 . Sangin Kar Sanat . en-US.
  19. Web site: 2025-10-29 . Reaching the Scene of an Aircraft Fire Within Three Minutes of Receiving a Dispatch Order. Striving to be the Safest Airport in the World— The Mission of the Airport Fire Department Fly High . 2025-12-13 . Kansai Airports . en.
  20. Web site: Rosenbauer . 2025-12-19 . www.rosenbauer.com.
  21. Web site: «Rosenbauer Panther» әуеайлақтық өрт сөндіру автомобилі алғаш рет Астана әуежайында! . 2025-12-13 . www.nn-airport.kz.
  22. Web site: Kaunas Airport adds two Rosenbauer Panther vehicles to its fire rescue fleet . 2025-12-13 . www.ltou.lt . en.
  23. Web site: The Rosenbauer Panther 8×8 Fire Truck - Malta International Airport . 2025-12-13 . en-GB.
  24. Web site: Šubara . Milana . 2023-10-27 . Rozenbauer Panter 6X6 je novo vatrogasno vozilo Aerodroma Podgorica . 2025-12-13 . Aerodromi Crne Gore . sr.
  25. Web site: Journal . Popular . 2023-02-24 . လေယာဥ်မတော်တဆမှု အခြေအနေကြုံပါက အသင့်ရှိနေစေရန် ဇာတ်တိုက်လေ့ကျင့်မှု မန္တလေးတွင် ပြုလုပ် . 2025-12-13 . Popular . en-US.
  26. News: Aruba . Government of . 2024-05-29 . Rein Hulst to join the Management Team of the Aruba Fire Department. . 2025-12-14 . Government of Aruba . en.
  27. Web site: St. Martin News Network - Two New Fire Trucks to Offer Advanced Technologies for PJIAE N.V. . 2025-12-14 . smn-news.com.
  28. Web site: Seton . Mark . 2025-03-05 . Christchurch International Airport receives first, fully electric RT at an airport in the Southern Hemisphere . 2025-12-14 . Asia Pacific Fire . en-GB.
  29. Web site: NADZAB AIRPORT RECEIVES NEW FIRE TRUCK . 2025-12-13 . PNG Haus Bung . en.
  30. Web site: 2022-09-29 . Vnukovo Airport Announced the Best Rescuers and Drivers of Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Service Vnukovo Airport News . 2025-12-14 . Vnukovo International Airport . en.
  31. Web site: 2025-12-13 . State-of-the-art fire appliance commissioned and added to fleet at RLB International Airport WINNFM 98.9 . 2025-12-13 . en-US.
  32. Web site: Luce . Josiah St . 2025-07-19 . Government boosts Fire Service with $36.3M investment in new trucks . 2025-12-14 . St. Lucia Times . en-US.
  33. Web site: PANTHER takes a detour . 2025-12-13 . 30yearspanther.rosenbauer.com . en.
  34. Web site: 嘉聯科技股份有限公司 . 桃園市政府消防局->消防車輛簡介 . http://web.archive.org/web/20250315205741/https://www.tyfd.gov.tw/cht/index.php?act=article&code=detail&ids=160&article_id=1104 . 2025-03-15 . 2025-12-14 . www.tyfd.gov.tw . zh-Hant-TW.
  35. Web site: webmanagercenter.com . walid . 2023-04-08 . Des équipements de sauvetage et d’extinction de classe mondiale pour les aéroports tunisiens . 2025-12-18 . WMC . fr-FR.
  36. Web site: 2021-09-15 . Large scale emergency-rescue services trainings at Boryspil Interntional Airport . 2025-12-14 . Аеропорт Бориспіль . en-US.
  37. Web site: Rosenbauer . 2025-12-14 . www.rosenbauer.com.
  38. Web site: Rosenbauer . 2025-12-14 . www.rosenbauer.com.
  39. News: Grissom's fire department brings new truck into fleet . http://web.archive.org/web/20250424092120/https://www.nellis.af.mil/News/Article/2501593/grissoms-fire-department-brings-new-truck-into-fleet/ . 2025-04-24 . 2025-12-14 . Nellis Air Force Base . en-US.
  40. Web site: cand.com.vn . Kiểm tra công tác PCCC tại Cảng hàng không quốc tế Tân Sơn Nhất . 2025-12-14 . Báo Công an Nhân dân điện tử . vi.
  41. News: Diễn tập cứu nạn tại sân bay Quốc tế Đà Nẵng. Thành Long. 3 November 2022. Voice of Vietnam. 14 December 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20230402031358/https://vov.vn/xa-hoi/dien-tap-cuu-nan-tai-san-bay-quoc-te-da-nang-post981571.vov. 2 April 2023. live.
  42. “Sentinel Prime (DOTM)”. Transformers Wiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Sentinel_Prime_(DOTM). Retrieved 2025-11-20.

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