The Artec consortium, led by Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), has signed a contract with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to produce more than 500 Boxer 8x8-wheeled armoured vehicles for the British Army (www.rheinmetall.com) .

The total current value of the order is about 2.6 billion euros.

The contract has been awarded to Artec via the European procurement agency Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR).

The vehicles will be supplied in several different configurations, including armoured personnel carrier, command vehicle, specialist carrier and field ambulance.

Delivery is expected to start in 2023, and most of the vehicles for the British Army will be produced in the UK, principally at plants operated by Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) and KMW’s subsidiary WFEL (www.wfel.com).

This order marks the return of the UK to a European defence programme, having taken part in the Boxer project when it was still in its infancy. Boxer is now on its way to becoming one of NATO’s standard vehicles.

It is a ‘highly protective’ armoured vehicle with a modular architecture that allows ‘more operational configurations than any other vehicle system’.

Some 700 vehicles in 12 different versions are currently on order from three NATO countries — Germany, the Netherlands and Lithuania. Australia has also ordered 211 Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles.

Artec GmbH, which was established in 1999, is a joint venture of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH, Rheinmetall Military Vehicles GmbH and Rheinmetall Defence Nederland BV.

The company co-ordinates serial production of the Boxer and serves as the point of contact for export enquiries.