After the start of prototype and series production of the BOXER for the UK at Rheinmetall in Kassel at the beginning of June, production has now started at WFEL in the UK, the company has announced.
Vehicle components for the BOXER had already been manufactured at WFEL. Now, the drawing of the first welds between the armour plates, which are intended for the construction of the hull, has begun. The British subsidiary of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) is one of the two central companies for BOXER production in the UK.
As part of the technology transfer required by the UK government, KMW had trained British welding personnel for up to a year at the BOXER production facility of its parent company KMW in Hamburg. This qualification is now being used to carry out the complex work required to manufacture the hulls of the drive modules for the British Army’s BOXER variants.
WFEL has been contracted by ARTEC, the joint venture of Rheinmetall and KMW, to manufacture the hulls. In addition, WFEL will carry out the final assembly with integration of the components and the testing for 225 BOXER. With BOXER production, the manufacture of new armoured vehicles in the UK begins again after a long break.
Gerhard Heiming
