With a symbolic first weld, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has inaugurated the production of Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (CRVs) in Australia, Rheinmetall announced on 20 March 2023.
Australia ordered 211 Boxer 8×8 wheeled reconnaissance vehicles from Rheinmetall for EUR 2.7 Bn in 2018 as part of the Land 400 Phase 2 defence programme. As agreed, Rheinmetall produced the first tranche of 25 vehicles in Germany, assembled them in Australia and handed them over to the Australian Army in mid-2021.
Now, as planned, production of the second tranche of 186 Boxer vehicles has begun at the Rheinmetall Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence (MILVEHCOE) in Ipswich, Queensland, ensuring that Australian industry will be involved in the production of the Boxers to the agreed extent.
“We are proud to be the largest supplier of military vehicles to the Australian Defence Force,” said Nathan Poyner, Managing Director of Rheinmetall Defence Australia. “We have an operational facility, the personnel on site, our partnerships are established and, as part of the capability to build a complete modern armoured vehicle, we have built real sovereign capabilities, including armour and electronics manufacturing for the Australian Defence Force; all of which happens here in Queensland.”
The Boxer CRV, Poyner says, offers Australian troops a high level of protection, firepower and mobility for sustained operations in peacekeeping and close combat activities.
Gerhard Heiming
