Home Europe UK returns to Boxer armored vehicle program with 500 unit buy

UK returns to Boxer armored vehicle program with 500 unit buy

Boxer
Photo: British Army

The UK defense ministry has signed off on a £2.8 billion (approx. $3.6b) deal for the acquisition of around 500 new Boxer armored vehicles for the British Army.

The UK opted for the Rheinmetall-built Boxer after previously leaving the development of the vehicle in 2003.

The country’s defense ministry announced in 2018 that it would re-join the Boxer program within the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) and explore options to equip the Army with the 8×8 troop carriers to modernize its vehicle fleet and meet the Army’s mechanised infantry vehicle requirement.

Initially the Army will buy a troop-carrying variant, an ambulance, a command vehicle and a specialist carrier.

The vehicles are delivered by ARTEC, a joint venture between Rheinmetall (64%) and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (36%), that is contracted to deliver and support more than 600 Boxer vehicles to the German, Dutch and Lithuanian armed forces.

The Boxer can be deployed around the world to deliver soldiers around the battlefield, travelling long distances quickly, cross country, under enemy fire and in the most austere of environments. It is modular by design, meaning that the same vehicle base platform can be quickly reconfigured with different modules to fill different roles.

“Our men and women of the Armed Forces deserve to have the best equipment to do their job. The Boxer vehicle is a leader in its field and I look forward to it arriving in units from 2023,” defense secretary Ben Wallace commented.