Workshop footage detailing the steps to changing out a mission module on the Boxer 8×8. Surprisingly quick and simple to replace battle-damaged modules or create different vehicle variants. Boxer consists of two key elements, the platform/drive-line and the removable mission module. The mission module is a key (and unique) feature of Boxer, it allowing the vehicle to be rapidly changed to meet different operational requirements. Mission modules are attached by four points and can be swapped within an hour under field conditions.
On 28 July 2016 it was announced the Boxer IFV variant was one of two vehicle types (from four) down-selected to take part in the 12-month Risk Mitigation Activity for the Australian Army’s Land 400 Phase 2 programme. The CRVs will replace the army’s ageing fleet of 257 Australian Light Armoured Vehicles (ASLAV) that reach their life-of-type around 2021. On 13 March 2018 it was announced that Rheinmetall Defense Australia (RDA) had been selected as the preferred tenderer for Land 400 Phase 2. RDA will now proceed to contract negotiations for 211 Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle (CRV), with a roll out of initial vehicles by 2021. Under the company’s offering to Australia, the first batch of 20 to 25 vehicles will be built in Germany in a move Rheinmetall says will support the transfer of technology. Australians will be embedded into teams in Germany to learn the necessary skills before transferring back to Australia for the build of the remaining CRVs. RDA’s CRV build programme will focus on the development of a proposed Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence (MILVEHCOE) in Brisbane, Queensland, which will be the hub for the production of the majority of the vehicles. The local build programme will include about 40 local suppliers that include the Bisalloy Steel Group, which will supply the Boxer’s armoured steel, NIOA (ammunition and armament services), Tectonica (the vehicle’s local situational awareness system), Supacat Australia (development and certification), Cablex (wiring and cables), G&O Kert, Hilton Manufacturing, Direct Edge and Plasteel (metal manufacturing and machining services), Hoffman Engineering (lighting and display components), Huber and Suhner (electronics components), Nezkot Precision Tooling and Engineering (turret assembly and testing), and Redarc (electronics). These industrial opportunities will create up to 1,450 jobs across Australia, with Boxer deliveries scheduled to be complete by 2026. The acquisition and sustainment of the CRVs is costed at AUD15.7 billion (USD12.2 billion). The acquisition is worth AUD5.2 billion, with the remaining AUD10.5 billion costed for sustainment over the vehicles’ 30-year life.
The Boxer is a German-Dutch multirole armoured fighting vehicle designed to accomplish a number of operations through the use of installable mission modules. It is produced by the ARTEC GmbH (armoured vehicle technology) industrial group, and the programme is being managed by OCCAR (Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation). ARTEC GmbH is seated in Munich, its parent companies are Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH and Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles GmbH (RMMV) on the German side, and Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Nederland B.V. for the Netherlands. Overall, Rheinmetall has a 64% stake in the joint venture. Other names in use or previously used are GTK (gepanzertes Transport-Kraftfahrzeug; armoured transport vehicle) Boxer and MRAV (multirole armoured vehicle).
