The Australian Government has signed a contract worth $2.41bn with Rheinmetall for the delivery of 211 Boxer wheeled armoured combat reconnaissance vehicles (CRVs).
Designed to replace the more than 20-year-old Australian Light Armoured Vehicles (ASLAVs), the Boxer vehicles will help offer increased mobility, lethality and protection capability to the Australian Army.
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Rheinmetall chief executive Armin Papperger said: “This demonstrates, in no uncertain terms, the continued successful cooperation between Rheinmetall and the Government and Armed Forces of Australia.
“As a company, we are extremely pleased to have secured one of the biggest orders in the recent history of Rheinmetall.”
The development of the advanced 8×8 wheeled armoured vehicle, which will be built indigenously by local workers using local steel, is expected to generate up to 1,450 high-tech, highly skilled jobs across the country.
Once in service with the Australian Army, the Boxer vehicles will be deployed to carry out seven different roles on the battlefield, which include reconnaissance, command and control, joint fires, surveillance, ambulance, battlefield repair, and recovery.
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By GlobalDataEquipped with new and advanced sensors and communications equipment, the vehicles will be able to locate, monitor and engage with enemy forces and offer increased security to the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
Rheinmetall Vehicle Systems Division head Ben Hudson said: “The Boxer CRV is highly protected against both asymmetric threats that have been faced by Australian soldiers in recent operations, while also being highly protected against conventional battlefield threats that our soldiers may face one day in a conventional war-fighting scenario.”
Deliveries of the advanced CRVs are slated to take place between next year and 2026, with the first carriers expected to be available for training with the Australian Army in 2020.
