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ARTEC Boxer

2011 ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIER MODERN

History of ARTEC Boxers

The

Boxer originated as a military requirement affecting the British, French and German armies in the late 1990s. However, France left the company in 1999 to develop an indigenous APC design, which later became the 8-wheeled VBCI ("Vehicule Blinde de Combat d'Infanterie") armored personnel carrier (APC). In November 1999, the United Kingdom and Germany formally signed a contract for the joint design, development and production of a new generation of multi-wheeled combat vehicles for their respective militaries.

The type will be built around two key elements in its overall design - the base hull and a "modular mission system", the latter of which is customized to specific operator and mission requirements and delivered as a complete assembly in about an hour Remove/replace. The vehicle will consist of a multipurpose hull capable of mounting the latest battlefield weapons, while also serving a variety of battlefield roles as needed. Such a design would help reduce production and procurement costs, while allowing the military to buy only one type of vehicle and customize it to meet specific needs. In addition, the commonality of base vehicle components across different versions will facilitate "on-site" logistics and maintenance.

In the UK, the program is called the Multipurpose Armored Vehicle (MRAV), while the Germans call it the Panzertes Transport Kfz (GTK).

The Netherlands soon joined the partnership in February 2001 as the program gained momentum. To them, the program is called "Pantser Wiel Voertuig" (PWV). In December 2002, the vehicle was officially given the generic name "Boxer" and each participating country will receive no less than four prototype vehicles (also known as "Pilot" vehicles) for local evaluation.

The first prototype - the Bundeswehr armored personnel carrier - was launched in December 2002.

In 2003, the UK withdrew from its plans to seek indigenous armoured vehicle designs through its Future Rapid Response System (FRES) programme, leaving only Germany and the Netherlands to move forward with the Boxer programme The British eventually opted for the Swiss Piranha V model to meet their needs, although production has yet to begin due to defense budget and policy concerns. At this time Klaus-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall (Germany) and Rheinmetall (Storch) were the main defenders involved in the combined boxers.

The joint work is officially led by ARTEC GmbH in Munich, Germany. The second prototype emerged as a Dutch command post platform and was delivered for evaluation in October 2003.

Externally, the Boxer has a very traditional shape, like a wheeled APC, and heavily uses sloping armor for enhanced ballistic protection. The vehicle has a large rake which slopes strongly towards the midship. The sides of the hull are only slightly sloped and the top of the hull is flat. The Boxer design features the use of eight large wheels mounted on one side of the body as a four-wheel system, with power steering assist for the four front tires. The wheels are placed in pairs, with two facing the front of the fuselage and the remaining two facing the rear of the fuselage.

The driver remains in the seat position in the front right of the fuselage, and the field of view blocks and exterior mirrors are mounted in the corners of the fuselage to guide the vehicle under full armor protection. It also works with a central tire adjustment system that allows "on-the-fly" tire pressure adjustments and adapts to the terrain ahead, providing excellent off-road support.

An access port is located aft of the driver's position and centered on the top of the fuselage for unobstructed views. Smoke grenade launchers are mounted on the rear roof of the hull. Armed, the boxer deploys a Heckler & Koch GMG 40mm automatic grenade launcher on a trainable base. If necessary, it can be replaced by installing a 12.7mm M3M heavy machine gun.

Additionally, the large caliber weapon can be replaced with a 7.62mm General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG). All weapons can be fired from the safety of the hull, protecting the gunner and crew. Her main operating crew consists of three people (driver, commander, and gunner), and the boxer can accommodate up to eight combat-ready passengers. Passengers sit opposite each other in two sets of seats next to each other. Passengers disembark and disembark through a large electric door that, when fully lowered, doubles as a ramp to quickly rescue passengers as battlefield conditions require.

The power door also has a smaller emergency exit hatch, for obvious reasons. Interestingly, the fuselage has no firing ports for armed personnel - although this is intentional and not a forgotten feature.

Manufactured with integrated radar, thermal and applicable night vision systems, the Boxer utilizes the latest in such technologies as well as the all-important NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) suite. The Boxer is designed to be transported by a new generation of heavy duty long distance transport vehicles.

The

Boxer consists of modular ceramic armor components surrounded by hardened welded steel. Its lower fairing is said to provide the latest in mine protection, which further protects its occupants from small arms fire and artillery jets from other fairings - even on a traditional thin canopy.

Decal armor can be added to improve point defense.

The vehicle weighs 25.2 tons and 33 tons when fully ready. The armored personnel carrier is said to have advanced stealth characteristics - it is a bit fat on its own compared to its contemporaries. Its barrel is 7.88 meters long, 2.99 meters wide, and has a total height of nearly 2.37 meters.

The vehicle is powered by an MTU 199 series V8 TE20 diesel engine producing 711 hp, mounted in a compartment in the front left of the fuselage. That gives the Boxer up to 652 miles of range and a top speed of 64 mph.

The Boxer is scheduled to go into mass production in 2004. However, political infighting between different parties and shrinking defense budgets only meant that such action was delayed until 2008. To date, the German and Dutch armies have ordered hundreds of Boxers, which will replace Germany's aging M113 and Fuchs Tpz 1 vehicles as well as the Netherlands' YPR-765 and M557 APC series vehicles. The Netherlands ordered at least 200 examples of the Boxer in 2006, with another 200 expected to be ordered.

Later that year, German authorities signed a purchase agreement to put 272 of the Boxers into service with the German Army, with hundreds more to be ordered later if funding allows - potentially as many as 600 in total. Interestingly, in mid-2007 the UK considered using Boxer for its FRES programme - although this apparently did not work out.

If all goes according to plan, the Boxer will develop into an armored personnel carrier, a battlefield ambulance (including a full medical waste space), a command post (additional communications), a logistics vehicle, a battlefield maintenance vehicle and a 120mm mortar carrier tool. Given the Boxer's modular design, an anti-tank platform is not out of the question.

These replacement variants can be identified by their taller fuselage roofline to compensate for the required increase in cabin workstations.