Military Technology 05/2021

THEME: Land Warfare MT 5/2021 · 13 continued existence and future development of the national land systems industry – set against the background of the uncertain progress in the ASCOD SV (formerly FRES SV) programme? SL: Procurement of over 500 vehicles in one lot has become very rare. That the UK chose the BOXER system for such a large lot offers an opportunity. Such a lot size naturally allows other options than those that exist in much smaller procurements. We last had a similar volume when we commissioned the first lot for Germany and the Netherlands in 2006 – and we used it appropriately. In order to significantly reduce the necessary investment and risk, we will rely on existing structures and companies in the British vehicle programme. Rheinmetall has founded a joint venture with BAE Systems, and is using the existing capacities in Telford. KMW uses the know-how and the production facility of its subsidiary WFEL in Stockport, and is expanding it further. Both companies, RBSL and WFEL, use their existing supply chains, expand them and invest in their own technologies and develop skills that are not available on the market. In this way, existing industrial capacities in the UK will be used, developed and expanded in the best possible manner. MILTECH: In February 2018, Slovenia also decided to procure BOXER – it is being considered as the base vehicle for equipping an infantry battalion. What significance would the procurement of the vehicle have for the modernisation of Slovenia’s land forces? SL: Obtaining such a capability is of enormous political and financial importance for a country like Slovenia. Trust in a mature and sustain- able solution is at least as important as the possibility of being able to work with other BOXER user nations. An inclusion in the contract that ARTEC now has through OCCAR with the four nations – Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania and the UK – is crucial. Thus, Slovenia can be sure of being able to enter the BOXER programme as an equal partner, and to be able to take advantage of existing solutions. MILTECH: Thank you for such a clear and fascinating insight into an important programme. MILTECH: What technical and technological innovations have led to BOXER’s selection in competitions in other customer nations – Lithuania and Australia? SL: Germany and the Netherlands had developed a well-balanced vehicle that had already successfully proven its strengths in a foreign assignment two years after delivery and was at the beginning of its life-cycle. In Lithuania, the BOXER prevailed in the earlier competition, thanks to its assets in terms of protection, growth, mobility and modularity. Due to the growth potential and modularity, it was possible to derive several IFV variants from the existing design in a short time, without having to make any fundamental changes to either the mission module or the driv- ing module. Obviously, the procurement via OCCAR was also an important argu- ment, because the same contractual conditions apply to Lithuania as to Germany and the Netherlands. In addition, Lithuania made it possible to fall back on proven processes and existing expertise at OCCAR. That brings security. After all, the VILKAS programme (the Lithuanian designa- tion for BOXER) is the largest procurement project in the country‘s history to date. When asked about the price, a Lithuanian Army general said, shortly before signing the contract “We are not rich enough to buy cheap.” Australia, on the other hand, is not procuring BOXER via OCCAR, but directly from Rheinmetall. There have already been major projects here in the past that could be followed up. ARTEC was not involved in this case. I assume that the performance and the potential of the BOXER were also decisive here. MILTECH: How do you assess possible technological risks in the devel- opment of new BOXER variants?< SL: Risk usually lies with the subsystems, to a greater degree than with the vehicle itself. BOXER was designed from the very beginning for higher loads and demands ,in order to be as flexible as possible upwards. Even complex mission modules have little or no impact on the driving module shared by all nations. And it is precisely here that there is sufficient growth potential, without having to fundamentally intervene in the structure. In addition, only the mission module has to be developed for the BOXER, which of course also saves costs. MILTECH: Let us return to Great Britain. The government decided in November 2019 to procure a total of 528 BOXERs for the armed forc- es. The customer‘s ‘specification sheet’ states that the vehicle – in four variants – should lead to a significant increase in ground forces‘ capabilities. What does this mean with regard to important parameters such as mobility, protection, modularity and growth potential? SL: All four of the parameters you mentioned are incorporated and fea- tured in the British BOXER versions. Some solutions can certainly be- come the new standard for the BOXER system in the future, and raise the level of capability. This is particularly evident in the vehicle’s modularity. The British cus- tomer has coined its own name for this – ‘Micro-Modularity.’ So far, the BOXER has differed significantly from other vehicles in its class, due to its modularity, consisting of a common driving module and different mission modules. This is now referred to as ‘Macro-modularity:’ ‘micro-­ modularity,’ on the other hand, reveals the existing modularity inside a mission module. Without being able to go into too much detail here, I can say that the interiors are also very modular, and allow different roles within a variant with only a very few changes. MILTECH: You commented earlier on the role of the British industrial base. The main features of such an important armaments project – in clear contrast to the Lithuanian order for 88 vehicles – point to an indus- trial partnership characterised by a high degree of division of labour and in-country value creation. At least 60% of the series production or final as- sembly is to be conducted in Britain. This speaks for a not inconsiderable exploitation of the British defence industrial base. How does this affect the Interview conducted by Stefan Nitschke , Editor-in-Chief of WEHRTECHNIK and NAVAL FORCES. On 5 November 2019, the UK announced a £2.3 billion ( € 2.7 billion) deal for the BOXER IFV had been signed – there will be four variants for a total of 528 vehicles, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2023. (Photos: ARTEC except where otherwise stated)