Australia’s largest ever defence export agreement on 10 April, with the signing of a production contract between the Australian Government and Rheinmetall Defence Australia. This contract, worth more than $1 billion to the Australian economy, will see Boxer Heavy Weapon Carrier (Boxer Schwerer Waffenträger Infanterie, sWaTrg Inf) vehicles, built at Rheinmetall Defence Australia’s Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence in Redbank, Queensland, supplied to the German Army. The signing of the production contract fulfils the intent of the bilateral agreement signed by the Australian and German Governments in March to export more than 100 Australian-made Boxer Heavy Weapon Carrier vehicles to Germany. The first vehicle to be built in Australia is scheduled to be delivered to the German Government in 2026 with the final vehicle due in 2030. This contract will secure 600 direct jobs in Queensland, in addition to the economic opportunities that will flow through the defence supply chain.
Quotes attributable to Major General Jason Blain, Head Land Systems Division:“This contract will supply our security partner, Germany, with one of the most advanced armoured vehicles in the world, and supports Australia’s world-class defence industry, not only here in Queensland, but throughout the national supply chain. This contract signing signals the strength of the ongoing partnership between the Australian Government and our nation’s defence industry, including Rheinmetall Defence Australia. Rheinmetall Defence Australia has strong, enduring partnerships with a large number of Australian companies skilled in the delivery of military vehicle capabilities.”
The Heavy Weapon Carrier for the Infantry is based on the Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle (CRV), the wheeled armoured reconnaissance vehicle of the Australian Defence Force, also supplied by Rheinmetall. This is the proven 8×8 combat vehicle with an armoured reconnaissance mission module including the two-person Lance turret. The main weapon is the Rheinmetall MK30-2 ABM automatic cannon, which is also installed in the German Puma infantry fighting vehicle. In addition, the multi-role guided missile system (“mehrrollenfähiges leichtes Lenkflugkörpersystem” or MELLS), which enables the Heavy Weapon Carrier for the Infantry to provide anti-tank defence, is also fitted. The vehicles earmarked for the Bundeswehr will use production capacities at Rheinmetall’s state-of-the-art Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence (MILVEHCOE) in Redbank, south-east Queensland – together with the Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles produced for the Australian Defence Forces.
Comprehensive German-Australian cooperation on this programme was initiated in 2023. A declaration of cooperation had previously been signed in Canberra on 23 March 2023 by the Australian Minister for Defence Industry, Pat Conroy MP, and the German Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Defence, Thomas Hitschler. This lays the foundation for further contractual arrangements between the Australian and German Ministries of Defence and Rheinmetall. In Australia, Rheinmetall is the largest supplier of military vehicles to the country’s armed forces. In addition to the 211 Boxer vehicles delivered as part of the Land 400 Phase 2 project – 133 of them in the CRV variant with the crewed Lance turret – the company also supports the Australian Defence Force’s HX fleet, which comprises over 2,900 vehicles.
