Wasserwerfer 9000

Water supply was limited and vehicles were often incapacitated by rioters - these older models are no longer in official use and are instead used for training purposes.

[citation needed] The Wasserwerfer 9000 was based solely on the four-wheel drive chassis of the Mercedes-Benz NG and later SK series, and the construction was carried out by Metz and Ziegler.

[citation needed] The Bundespolizei ordered over 100 Wasserwerfer 9000s over its production run, with state police forces across Germany also operating new or second-hand examples.

These were typically used for riot control, however they could also be deployed in special circumstances to fight fires and to provide drinking water in droughts and disasters.

In 1985, activist Günter Sare [de] was killed when he was run over by a Wasserwerfer 9000 that had hit him with pressurised water during a march in Frankfurt am Main.

Subsequent investigations revealed that the water cannon's engine noise, cockpit layout and poor targeting controls had potentially distracted its crew.

[5] In 2011, retired engineer Dietrich Wagner was partially blinded when a blast of pressurised water from a Wasserwerfer 9000 hit his eyes during the Stuttgart 21 protests.