On March 20, the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag approved the procurement of 123 heavy infantry weapons carriers and a contract for their logistical support. A total of 2.7 billion euros will be made available for this purpose from the Bundeswehr's special funds. Since both contracts run until 2030, financing from the core budget of Section 14 is planned from 2028.
The procurement is carried out with a very special contract. The contracting parties are the Federal Republic of Germany and the Commonwealth of Australia. The main contractor is the Australian Department of Defense, which in turn will appoint Rheinmetall Defense Australia as a subcontractor. Rheinmetall Landsysteme will be their subcontractor.
Development services are almost not included in the contract. The exception is the adaptation to the communication equipment in the D-LBO standard as well as the approval requirements according to the StVO due to the strategic installation in public road traffic.
As far as is known, the proof vehicle and the first 19 series vehicles will be produced in Germany. The remaining vehicles will be produced in Australia at a production rate of around two vehicles per month and then transported to Germany by ship. Customs fees amounting to almost 40 million euros are incurred. The vehicles are delivered by Rheinmetall Landsysteme.
The proof vehicle is scheduled to be delivered this year. The detection vehicle was on display at the exhibition on the sidelines of the groundbreaking ceremony for the Rheinmetall ammunition factory in Unterlüß on February 13th. The support team was convinced that the vehicle would be completed in time for the planned delivery date in the summer. 19 series vehicles are scheduled to be delivered in 2025. An annual delivery of 25 vehicles is planned from 2026, with a remaining delivery of three vehicles in 2030.
The driving module for the heavy weapons carrier differs from the boxers introduced in the army. Due to the high weight of the mission module with the Lance turret, the carrying capacity of the driving module was increased to 38.5 tons. For this purpose, the axles were reinforced and wheels with a higher load capacity were used. The engine remains unchanged.
A Rheinmetall Lance 2 Block II infantry turret is integrated into the mission module. The armament consists of the MK30-2 machine cannon in 30 mm x 173 caliber known from the Puma infantry fighting vehicle and a turret machine gun of the type FN MAG in 7.62 mm x 51 caliber. In addition, the system has an integrated launcher for anti-tank guided missiles of the type MELLS (Multi-Role Capable Light Guided Missile System).
At the same time as the procurement contract, an “Integrated Logistic Support” contract is to be concluded with Rheinmetall Landsysteme. This is intended to ensure an availability of 70 percent in the first five years after delivery of the first series vehicle with its own spare parts. The contract can be extended for up to two years. During this time, the “Australian” boxers should be completely transferred to the existing logistics system of the boxers that have already been introduced. At the end, complete documentation should be created and the special tools/measuring and testing equipment should be available.
The contract also includes the delivery of training materials and the implementation of cadre training. The Bundeswehr will receive five combat simulators, six action trainers, two tower training systems, a repair training system, and duel simulator training equipment (AGDUS) including logistical support during the contract period. There are also documents for computer-supported training and digital teaching aids.
In addition, cadre training has been agreed for operators of the driving and mission modules, for shooting instructors and for repair personnel in the areas of driving module/mission module and turret.
The Bundeswehr needs ten Boxer driving school vehicles. The vehicles are listed in the draft contracts. Procurement is not (yet) planned.
With the procurement of the heavy infantry weapon carriers, the Bundeswehr's inventory of Boxers increases to 673 vehicles.
Gerhard Heiming
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