The Australian Army has commenced training on the new Boxer 8×8 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (CRV) which are being delivered under the Government’s LAND 400 Phase 2 program. The 211 new Boxer 8×8 CRVs will replace Army’s Australian Light Armoured Vehicles (ASLAVs), delivering Army a new, cutting edge capability. The Boxer training is being run in a COVID safe manner, Australian Department of Defence and Rheinmetall Defence Australia have worked closely together to implement the necessary changes to ensure the training could be conducted safely. The first of 25 Boxers – 13 multipurpose and 12 turreted reconnaissance variants – that are being manufactured in Germany through to 2021 to meet an early Australian capability requirement for familiarisation and training.
Australian Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC said,”The commencement of training brings Army a step closer to having world-class combat reconnaissance capability. These vehicles will provide our soldiers with increased protection, lethality, connectivity and mobility for the next 30 years. Defence has continued recruiting and training personnel under COVID-safe conditions to meet our force generation requirements to continue defending the nation and its interests.”
To date, Australian Department of Defence has accepted delivery of five Boxer vehicles with an additional vehicle expected by the end this week. 211 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles on order, with deliveries expected until 2026. Production of the balance of 186 platforms – a mix of reconnaissance, command-and-control, joint fires, surveillance, ambulance, and battlefield repair and recovery variants – will begin in late 2022 at RDA’s AUD170 million Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence (MILVEHCOE). Nearing completion at Ipswich, Brisbane, this will be Rheinmetall’s biggest facility outside Germany and represents the largest single infrastructure investment to be made by the company in its 131-year history.
The Boxer is a multirole armoured fighting vehicle designed by an international consortium to accomplish a number of operations through the use of installable mission modules. The nations participating in the Boxer program have changed as the program has developed. The Boxer vehicle 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 based in Munich; its parent companies are Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH and Rheinmetall Military Vehicles GmbH on the German side, and Rheinmetall Defence Nederland B.V. for the Netherlands. Overall, Rheinmetall has a 64% stake in the joint venture.
