Rheinmetall delivers first batch of Boxer scouting vehicles to Australia

COLOGNE, Germany – Germany’s Rheinmetall has delivered a new slate of 25 Boxer vehicles to Australia under the country’s multibillion-dollar army modernization program, the company announced on June 2.

The newest vehicles came in a combat reconnaissance configuration, of which Australia stands to receive 131 copies under the $5.2 billion Land 400 Phase 2 Mounted Combat Reconnaissance Capability project, according to a Rheinmetall statement. The CRV variants make up of the bulk of the country’s total order of 211 Boxers.

Australia is one of Rheinmetall’s major customers for the armored, wheeled vehicles. The company is also outfitting British forces with the rides, though U.K. officials have recently weighed options for boosting the new vehicles’ firepower to take up new missions.

Rheinmetall markets the Boxer in conjunction with its consortium partner and rival Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. The European customer base also includes Germany, Netherlands and Lithuania.

Australia’s Land 400 program is a key military modernization effort meant to increase fighting capabilities and nurse an emerging domestic defense industrial base at the same time. Companies involved in the program typically tout their focus on building local production plants and hiring Australians.

In the case of the Boxer sale, Rheinmetall said there are currently “over 30 Australians” working at sites in Germany to learn everything about the vehicle. The idea is certify a Boxer production line within the company’s Military Vehicle Center of Excellence in Redbank, Queensland, where workers can eventually make the vehicles domestically.

Rheinmetall opened that facility in October 2020, though achieving full production capacity is still a work in progress.

More In Europe

Lockheed to supply Australia with air battle management system

Overhauling Australia’s overhead defenses is expected to generate hundreds of local jobs as well as open the door to a multibillion-dollar export market.

Defense Innovation Unit prepares to execute $800 million funding boost

DIU Director Doug Beck said he doesn’t foresee any issues with quickly putting to work the $983 million in FY-24 funding Congress provided in March.

Army may swap AI bill of materials for simpler ‘baseball cards’

"We know innovation's happening in the open-source environment," said the Army's Bharat Patel. "We also know who's contributing to the open source."

How L3Harris is shoring up its small satellite supply chain

The president of L3Harris’ space systems sector, recently sat down with C4ISRNET to discuss the challenges of developing a diverse yet mature supply base.

From customer to sanctioned ‘proliferator,’ drones extend Iran’s reach

Iranian contractors and government officials have picked up on market demand, frequenting arms expos and other events in Russia, Iraq, Qatar and more.