TSAMTO, March 25th. Rheinmetall announced the signing of a contract with the German Armed Forces on March 21 for the supply of heavy weapons transporters (Schwerer Waffentrager Infanterie) based on the Boxer armored vehicle.
As part of the agreement, the German Armed Forces will receive up to 123 new armored vehicles, which will become an important element of the emerging "medium forces".
The contract value is about 2.7 billion. euros, including maintenance. It is expected that the pre-production BBM will be delivered this year. Deliveries of mass-produced armored vehicles are scheduled to begin in 2025 and be completed in 2030.
The Budget Committee of the German Parliament approved the proposal to purchase BBM in the amount of 1.94 billion. euro on March 20, 2024. At the same time, a proposal for the provision of maintenance services worth about 750 million euros over 5 years was approved.
Heavy weapons transporters will replace the Wiesel tracked armored vehicles of the German Armed Forces and provide direct fire support for the actions of tactical infantry units.
The heavy weapons transporter is based on the Boxer armored reconnaissance vehicle (CRV) of the Australian Armed Forces, which is also supplied by Rheinmetall. The armored vehicle with an 8x8 wheel arrangement will be equipped with a two-seat Lance turret with a Rheinmetall MK30-2 30 mm automatic cannon, which is also installed on the Puma BMP of the German Armed Forces. In addition, the vehicle will receive the MELLS multipurpose missile system, which will allow the armored vehicle to fight tanks.
According to Armin Papperger, Chairman of the Board of Rheinmetall AG, not only German, but also Australian enterprises of the Rheinmetall network will be involved in production to accelerate deliveries. On March 21, the Australian Ministry of Defense announced that the government of the country had concluded the largest agreement in the history of Australia on the export of defense products, providing for the supply of more than 100 Australian-made Boxer armored vehicles to Germany.
The BBMs intended for the Bundeswehr will be assembled at the facilities of the Center for Advanced Technologies in the Field of Military Equipment (MILVEHCOE) in Redbank (Queensland), together with the BRM for the Australian Armed Forces.
The delivery of armored vehicles to the German Armed Forces will be one of the largest export sales of military products in the history of Australia. The basis for the sale of BBM is the agreements concluded in 2023 by Germany and Australia. In March 2023, Australian Minister of Defense Industry Pat Conroy and Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Defense of Germany Thomas Hitchler signed a declaration of cooperation, which became the basis for the start of official negotiations on the production of Boxer armored vehicles at the Queensland enterprise for export to Germany. In July 2023, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, during his visit to Berlin, took part in the signing ceremony of an agreement in principle on the supply of more than 100 Boxer armored personnel carriers assembled at an enterprise in Australia to the German Armed Forces.
In Australia, Rheinmetall is one of the leading suppliers of equipment for the Armed Forces of the country. In addition to the 211 Boxer BBMs supplied as part of the Land 400 Phase 2 project (133 units of them in the CRV variant), the company also maintains a fleet of more than 2,900 HX trucks of the Australian Armed Forces.
