The Slovenian defense ministry and the Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation (OCCAR) have signed a 343 million euro contract for Slovenia’s purchase of the Boxer infantry fighting vehicles (IFV).
Signed on May 11, the contract for a total of 45 vehicles will see Slovenia receive its first Boxer in 2023 as the fifth program member.
Other countries already in the program include Germany, Netherlands, Lithuania and the United Kingdom.
Slovenian Boxer vehicles will be configured on the basis of Lithuania’s Vilkas Boxers with Israeli-developed Rafael Samson II 30×173 mm remote turrets, anti-armor Spike LR missiles, and US-made 30 mm MK-44S cannons.
Slovenia’s defense minister Matej Tonin said that the signing ceremony brought the country where it should have been 15 years ago. “Slovenia is getting top-quality vehicles that will be intended for national and collective defense within NATO,” the minister said.
The 343 million contract will include armament, logistics services and project management costs.
As we wrote earlier, Slovenia’s purchase of the 8×8 combat vehicles has been delayed for a long time, preventing the country’s armed forces from establishing a medium-sized battalion battlegroup (SrBBSK), which has been deemed an essential capacity for further development and improvement of the state of readiness of the military.
The Boxer IFV is delivered by the ARTEC consortium, which is composed of German military vehicle specialists Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall. The vehicle is available in a number of variants thanks to its modular architecture. To date, some 1,500 vehicles in twenty different versions have been ordered by Australia and four NATO countries: Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania and the United Kingdom. Australia, a close partner of NATO, has already taken delivery of a first shipment of 25 Boxer vehicles.
