Boxer (armoured fighting vehicle) country of origin Germany
2010s
In December 2015 it was announced that Germany had ordered an additional 131 Boxers worth EUR476 million and that Lithuania had selected the Boxer.In August 2016 a EUR385.6 million production contract was placed by Lithuania for the supply of 88 Boxers, and at this time it was stated that 53 Boxers would be manufactured by KMW and the remaining 35 by Rheinmetall, with deliveries running 2017–2021. In Lithuanian service, the vehicle is designated as Vilkas (Wolf). The precise mix/number of Lithuanian vehicles was initially unclear but according to Janes, Lithuania will receive 91 Boxers in the A2 configuration, 89 as variants of the baseline IFV configuration, plus two driver-training vehicles. The exact breakdown is 55 squad-leader, 18 platoon-leader, 12 company-leader, and 4 command-post vehicles. A single IFV will be used for maintenance training. The first two vehicles (driver training configuration) were delivered in December 2017. The first two Boxer in IFV configuration were delivered in June 2019 and at this time the Lithuanian MoD stated that 15 vehicles would be delivered in 2019 and that all 89 IFV variants would be delivered by the end of 2023.Most of the original German Army Boxer order was delivered in the A1 configuration. 40 APC and 16 command posts, however, were delivered in the A0 configuration; these were subsequently upgraded to the A1 configuration. In June 2017 it was announced that the Bundeswehr's Boxer A1 fleet would be upgraded to A2 standard. The first A2 Boxer was delivered in June 2015. The differences between A1 and A2 configurations are relatively minor electrical and mechanical engineering changes. The A2 standard resulted from operations in Afghanistan and incorporates changes in the drive and mission modules that include preparation for the integration of a driver vision system, changes to the stowage concept in both modules, changes to the gearbox, integration of a fire suppression system, modification of the RCWS, interface for an IED jammer, satellite communication system and other minor modifications." The latest Boxer variant is the A3. The British are the first customer of the A3 in its entirety.In July 2017 ARTEC awarded the then Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) a €21 million contract to upgrade 38 Bundeswehr Boxer command vehicles to A2 configuration with work scheduled for completion in mid-2020. At this time the Bundeswehr also had 124 Boxer APCs, 72 ambulances and twelve driver training vehicles to upgrade to A2 status.In February 2018 it was announced that Slovenia had selected the Boxer as the basis for two new mechanised infantry battle groups. In November it was revealed that pricing issues had impacted the Slovenian procurement timeline and that a new proposal from industry was pending. According to the Slovenian MoD's initial release on the subject, funding had been allocated for the procurement of 48 vehicles in 2018-2020 for the first battle group, which was expected to become operational by 2022, followed by the second in 2025. The desired total was reported to be 112 Boxer (96 IFV, 16 mortar) plus a small number of driver training vehicles. It was reported mid-2019 that the planned Boxer procurement had been suspended, the MoD deciding to conduct research and draw up a new comprehensive tactical study relating to the formation of a medium infantry battalion group, this likely to affect the procurement of 8×8 wheeled armoured vehicles. The  ministry will then re-examine options available and make a decision on how to build a medium infantry battalion group capability.In July 2016 it had been announced that the Boxer was one of two vehicle types (from four) down-selected to take part in the 12-month Risk Mitigation Activity for Australia's Land 400 Phase 2 project, and in March 2018 it was announced that Rheinmetall Defense Australia (RDA) had been selected as the preferred tenderer for that project which at the time called for 211 vehicles, with a roll out of initial vehicles by 2021 and deliveries scheduled to be complete by 2026. In Australian service the Boxer will replace the army's ageing fleet of 257 Australian Light Armoured Vehicles (ASLAV) that reach their life-of-type around 2021. Under Rheinmetall's offering, the first batch of 20 to 25 vehicles will be built in Germany with Australians embedded into teams to learn the necessary skills before transferring back to Australia for the build of the remaining vehicles. RDA's Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence (MILVEHCOE) in Brisbane, Queensland, will be the hub for the production of the majority of the vehicles, the local build programme including about 40 local suppliers. These industrial opportunities will create up to 1,450 jobs across Australia,  The acquisition and sustainment of the vehicles is costed at AUD15.7 billion (US$12.2 billion), acquisition  worth AUD5.2 billion, the remaining AUD10.5 billion costed for sustainment over the vehicles' 30-year life.In March 2018 it was announced by the UK government that it was re-joining the Boxer programme, and in April 2018 it was announced that Boxer had been selected by the British Army to meet its Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV) requirement. No details relating to quantity, cost, timeline or any contractual status was given. It was first reported in October 2016 that the British Ministry of Defence had taken its first formal step towards government-to-government acquisition of Boxer. At DSEI 2017, a Boxer in a Union Jack paint scheme was shown by Rheinmetall to promote the vehicle for the MIV requirement. In November 2017, a company of German army mechanised infantry equipped with 11 Boxers exercised with British Army units on Salisbury Plain. British Army sources denied that the exercise was linked to any decision on a procurement process for its MIV project. In February 2018 it was reported that Artec had signed agreements with UK suppliers, this contributing to the fact that 60% by value of the MIV contract will be done in Britain, along with final assembly of the MIVs at facilities already owned by the consortium.In July 2018 there were three Boxer-related announcements made over a period of three days. On 17 July the Dutch MoD announced that the last Dutch Boxer had rolled off the production line, this being a cargo variant. On 18 July the Lithuanian MoD announced that the country's first two Boxer prototypes had entered trials in Germany.  On 19 July 2018 the UK MoD disclosed its intent to order between 400 and 600 Boxers in four variants plus driver training vehicles, reference vehicles and support, with the first vehicles to be in-service by 2023. The contract will contain options to increase the quantity of vehicles by up to an additional 900.In March 2019 the Australian Ambassador to Germany inspected the first Boxer being delivered to the Australian Government under the Land 400 Phase 2 programme prior to its shipping to Australia., and in July 2019 the first two of the 25 Boxer being built in Germany arrived in Australia. The 25 vehicles delivered from Germany are split 13 reconnaissance platforms and 12 multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs). Once in Australia, these vehicles will receive a number of Australia specific modifications prior to final delivery to the Army. The first vehicles were in use for training purposes by October 2020. Rheinmetall will deliver 211 Boxer to the Australian Army under and in service Boxer will fill seven different roles on the battlefield: reconnaissance, command and control, joint fires, surveillance, multi-purpose, battlefield repair and recovery. The reconnaissance variant will account for 133 of the 211 vehicles and is equipped with Rheinmetall's Lance turret system and armed with a 30 mm automatic cannon.Also in July 2019 the first two Boxer (Vilkas) IFVs ordered by Lithuania were officially handed over to the MoD. The MoD stated that 15 Vilkas would be delivered in 2019 and all 89 vehicles would be delivered by the end of 2023.In September 2019 there were three Boxer-related announcements. On 10 September it was revealed that the target date for the UK's MIV programme to receive its main gate approval was 22 October 2019. It was reported that the business case for the purchase of an initial batch of 508 vehicles, valued at about GBP1.2 billion (US$1.48 billion), was currently under scrutiny by financial, commercial, and technical experts before receiving final approval by ministers. UK MoD officials submitted their final business case for the purchase of the Boxer MIVs on 9 September 2019 to meet the British Army's target of getting its first Boxer in service by 2023. At the 2019 Defence and Security Equipment International exhibition (DSEI 2019) in London, Germany's Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft (FFG) presented an armoured recovery mission module (ARM) for the Boxer  Christoph Jehn, FFG's project manager, stated the ARM was developed as a private venture from 2017. The company noticed Boxer users struggling to recover stranded vehicles with the aid of other Boxers and so decided to develop the bespoke mission module for the purpose. The ARM has an approximate weight of 13 tonnes, is manned by two personnel and connects to the Boxer using standard mechanical interfaces. On 24 September 2019 it was announced that the first Boxer for the Australian Army had formally been handed over. The turretless vehicle was the first of 25 Boxers – 13 multipurpose and 12 reconnaissance variants – that are being manufactured in Germany through to 2021 to meet an early Australian capability requirement for familiarisation and training purposes. Production of the other 186 platforms will begin in late 2020/early 2021 at a military vehicle centre of excellence constructed by Rheinmetall at Ipswich, southwest of Brisbane, and that formally opened in October 2020. This is the company's largest facility outside Germany. Also in September 2019 reports emerged that Algeria had selected the Boxer and that production would commence shortly. As of Q1 2022 this had not been confirmed by ARTEC.In November 2019 the UK Ministry of Defence awarded ARTEC a US$2.97 billion (GBP2.3 billion) contract to deliver more than 520 Boxer vehicles in multiple configurations.
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