The Boxer is undoubtedly the most flexible and successful in its class today.
Its Lego-like modular design allows the vehicle to be easily adapted to numerous missions
and quickly repaired any possible combat damage.
As the Weapons Detective, we are investigating the Boxer, the wheeled armoured vehicle of
the 21st century.
Please don't forget to subscribe to our channel before we start, and give us a thumbs up if
you like our video.
To be notified of our new videos, please click the bell button.
Also, you can now click the join button to support our channel.
And as always, we would greatly appreciate all of your likes, comments, and shares.
The Boxer differs from the other wheeled armoured vehicle on the market.
Its modularity does not just contain some degree of interchangeability or adapting to
the customer's demands in the factory.
The Boxer can be configured for many different missions in field conditions.
In the early 1990s, Germany began to seek a new vehicle to replace its M113s and Fuchs
TPz 1s, and France its AMX-10Ps.
These two countries decided to work together in 1993.
Three years later, the UK, which needed a similar vehicle to replace its FV432 armoured
personnel carriers and Scorpion armoured reconnaissance vehicles, joined the programme.
In 1999, while France left the partnership and decided to continue with its own VBCI
design, Germany and the UK ordered eight prototype vehicles, four each for each country.
In 2001, the Netherland, which was seeking the replacement of its M577s and the support
variants of the YPR-765s, joined the programme.
So, the Dutches ordered four additional prototypes.
At the time, the vehicle was called GTK, MRAV or PWV.
The GTK was the abbreviation of "Gepanzertes Transport-Kraftfahrzeug" in German, which
means "armoured transport vehicle".
The Brits called it MRAV, short for "Multi-Role Armoured Vehicle".
The PWV was the abbreviation of "Pantserwielvoertuig" in Dutch, which means "armoured vehicle".
The name Boxer was announced when the second prototype appeared.
In 2002, Germany received the first prototype of the Boxer and began the trials.
London announced withdrawal from the partnership to focus on the Future Rapid Effect System
in 2003.
But, the UK would return to the programme 15 years later.
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall in Germany and Stork in the Netherlands established the
ARTEC to produce the Boxer.
Later, Rheinmetall purchased the Dutch company.
The serial production phase had been scheduled to commence in 2004.
But, economic and political problems caused some delays, and the German Army took over
the first Boxer in 2009.
The early production models of the Boxer were in A0 configuration.
Germany took 56 of them into service, but later these vehicles were upgraded to A1 configuration.
The first Boxer A2 was delivered to the Royal Netherlands Army in 2015.
In 2017, the German Army decided to upgrade its Boxer A1 fleet to A2 standard.
The A2 configuration, developed based on experiences in Afghanistan, has relatively minor electrical
and mechanical engineering changes to the A1.
Its differences include preparation for the integration of a driver vision system, changes
to the stowage concept in both modules, changes to the gearbox, integration of a fire suppression
system, modification of the remote-controlled weapon station, interface for an IED jammer,
and satellite communication system.
Weight optimization efforts in this configuration reduce the overall mass while increasing the
ballistic protection.
The latest A3 configuration of the Boxer has a gross weight of 38,500 kilograms and new
tyres.
Also, it will have the 805 horsepower MTU 8V 199 TS21 diesel engine.
The British are the first customer of A3 in its entirety.
So far, thanks to its modular design, the Boxer has been adapted for many missions,
such as personnel carrier, command post, ambulance, combat reconnaissance, engineering and logistics
support, cargo, driver training, battle damage repair, and infantry fighting.
Currently, Germany is waiting for two new variants.
One of them will perform counter UAV missions.
The other version with the same 30mm cannon and Spike LR anti-tank missile will replace
the Wiesel weapon carrier of the German Army.
This Boxer variant will also be fitted with 360-degree vision, warning and observation
systems.
It will carry seven infantry instead of eight.
The Lithuanian infantry fighting variant, called Vilkas A2, has the Rafael Advanced
Defense Systems Samson Mk II RCT turret with a fully stabilised Orbital ATK Mk 44 30 mm
dual-feed cannon, 7.62 mm co-axial machine gun, and Spike LR anti-tank missiles.
These vehicles are in A2 standard.
The combat reconnaissance variant produced for Australia is now replacing the ageing
ASLAVs.
This vehicle, which beat the Patria AMV in the competition, is a hybrid of the A2/A3
configurations.
It receives the latest A3 drive module but with the A2 standard engine rating of 711
horsepower.
The Australian combat reconnaissance variant of the Boxer has the Lance turret with the
MK30-2/ABM cannon and a 7.62mm machine gun.
Its crew consists of a commander, driver and gunner.
The vehicle can also carry six infantry.
The British Army will also have the versions for repair and recovery, observation post,
beyond-line-of-sight observation, electronic warfare, and signal intelligence missions.
There are many other Boxer variants, which include prototypes, concepts and developmental
platforms.
One of them, the Boxer RCH155, competes with the Archer for the Swiss Army's M109 replacement
programme.
The self-propelled anti-aircraft gun variant of the vehicle has the Skyranger turret.
There is a direct fire support version of the Boxer with the John Cockerill C3105 two-person
turret armed with a 105mm rifled gun.
The vehicle is also equipped with a laser weapon.
The Boxer JODAA is a technology demonstrator to study research and development around potential
Boxer improvements.
One vehicle is fitted with the Leguan bridging system for trials.
Of course, thanks to its modular design and interchangeable mission modules, all Boxers
can be easily adopted these duties.
The Boxer is a modular vehicle consisting of a drive platform module and interchangeable
mission modules, which contains mission-specific elements, such as weapons, equipment or crew.
Mission modules, which weigh up to fourteen tons, are attached by four points and can
be swapped within less than an hour under field conditions.
To reduce development, production, and life-cycle costs, commercial off-the-shelf components
were used as much as possible.
The driver, who can access their compartment through the mission module or in an emergency
via the large single-piece power-operated hatch above this position, controls the Boxer
behind the large bulletproof glass when the vehicle is on the move.
The power pack can be replaced in about 20 to 30 minutes under field conditions.
The tyres are supported with the central tire inflation system to ensure the vehicle's cross-country
mobility so the Boxer can follow Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks on rough terrain.
Due to its high weight, the vehicle can be transported by the A400M military transport
aircraft, albeit not in one piece.
Three Atlas can transport two Boxers, two for the drive modules and a third for the
mission modules.
The protection levels of the Boxer have not been officially announced.
Some sources claim that the high-hardness steel baseline armour provides all-around
resistance against 14.5 mm armour-piercing ammunition, and the vehicle can withstand
the explosion of a landmine that contains an 8-kilogram TNT-equivalent explosive.
The drive and missions modules are made of composite.
The AMAP composite armour is attached to baseline armour with rubber elements, called shock
mounts, and absorbs the shockwaves created by possible hits and explosions.
The dual-line design also helps to reduce the effect of a landmine or IED explosion.
This design reduces infrared signature by creating an air gap between the outer and
baseline armours and makes it possible to reconfigure protection levels of the Boxer
based on threat perception.
The Boxer's acoustic and radar signatures are also low.
The damaged outer armour blocks can easily be changed in field conditions.
There are spall liners in the crew compartment.
The seats are decoupled from the floor to prevent the shock wave of a mine explosion
from being transmitted directly to the crew.
The roof armour can withstand top attack weapons with a high-explosive anti-tank warhead.
Germany plans to equip its Boxers with the MUSS active protection system to increase
survivability.
Australia, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom are the current
and future users of the Boxer.
The personnel carrier variant of the Boxer has a three-person crew consisting of a commander,
gunner and driver, and can also carry eight infantry.
The vehicle has a length of 7.93 metres, a width of 2.99 metres, and a height of 2.37
metres.
Its combat weight is up to 36,500 kilograms.
The 711-horsepower MTU 8V199 TE20 turbocharged diesel engine provides a road speed of over
100 kilometres per hour.
Its range is 1,100 kilometres.
The Boxer can negotiate 0.8-metre vertical steps and 2-metre trenches.
It can be ford to a depth of 1.5 metres.
It can be fitted with a 7.62mm or 12.7mm machine gun or a 40mm automatic grenade launcher.
The Boxer's modularity level makes it unique.
The other modular armoured vehicles in the market do not have such flexibility.
Yes, they can be easily configured during the design phase in the factory.
But, these vehicles cannot be reconfigured for different missions in field conditions
in just an hour.
When their engineers develop a new mission-based variant, they necessarily work on the whole
vehicle design.
But the Boxer's engineers focus on only the mission module.
This flexibility is not just for creating a new mission-based variant.
Thanks to its design, the Boxer can embrace the possible future technologies effortlessly.
It is a priceless capability at a time when we witness innovations in technology every
day.
We can see many improvised fighting vehicles in today's conflict zones.
Many groups try to compensate for their losses by converting the other vehicles.
But, even these modifications require suitable facilities.
The Australians, Brits, Dutches, Germans, Lithuanians and Slovenians are or will be
free of these necessities.
For example, a Dutch commander can convert the Boxer Cargo vehicles to replace its destroyed
personnel carriers or even infantry fighting vehicles in an hour.
And he does not have to go to the factory for this.
The highly modular design also provides easy repair capability for possible combat damages.
The other competitors in the market cannot offer these advantages but the Boxer can.
Yes, you have to pay more if you want to have these benefits.
But as you may see, the low life cycle and modernization costs will compensate for the
high acquisition price.
So, this Lego-like armoured vehicle has naturally become the winner of the many latest tenders.
Nothing is surprising in this.
There is no necessity to seek a knot in a bulrush.
The Boxer represents the future of wheeled armoured vehicles.
Thanks for watching our video.
And please don't forget to subscribe to our channel and click the bell button to be notified
of our new videos.
Also, you can now click the join button to support our channel.
And as always, we would greatly appreciate all of your likes, comments, and shares.