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19.07.03, 10:42
Europe's Boxer: down but not out as UK quits
By Christopher F Foss, JDW Land Forces Editor; Juergen Erbe, JDW
Correspondent; & Joris Janssen Lok, JDW Special Correspondent.
The trinational European Boxer armoured vehicle programme will undergo a
major shake-up after the UK announced its withdrawal because the 33-tonne
vehicle is too heavy for its rapid-deployment needs.
Germany and the Netherlands are now considering their position. The two
countries are expected to continue with development, although the unit cost
may increase and the entire programme and industrial partnership will need
restructuring.
The UK is obliged to continue funding the development phase of Boxer unless
the other partners also pull out, which is unlikely.
The UK departure from the programme will free funding for the Future Rapid
Effects System (FRES), which the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has identified as
key to the British Army's future fighting force.
MRAV is the largest collaborative armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) programme
in Europe and is being run by the European procurement agency, OCCAR. The
contract was originally awarded in late 1999 and the first prototype was
rolled out late last year and named Boxer. The prime contractor is the
ARmoured vehicle TEChnology (ARTEC) consortium, based in Munich, Germany,
comprising the UK's Alvis Vickers; Germany's Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and
Rheinmetall Landsysteme; and Dutch company Stork.
UK Defence Procurement Minister Lord Bach said last week that FRES is a key
step on the way to providing the future army with the right equipment to meet
the new security challenges identified in the Strategic Defence Review.
FRES was expected to receive the go-ahead from the Investment Approval Board
but this has been delayed to later this year for a number of reasons.
JDW industry sources indicate that serious consideration is now being given
to selection of a Lead Systems Integrator (LSI) for FRES along similar lines
to the US Army's highly ambitious Future Combat System programme, being run
by Boeing.
BAE Systems and General Dynamics are possible LSIs for the FRES programme,
while the recently formed Alvis Vickers could integrate the vehicle. FRES is
the highest-priority programme for the British Army after the Bowman tactical
communications system and had a projected in-service date of 2009 with a
procurement of 1,757-2,800 units.
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