British Army’s new Boxer vehicle to begin trials this month

The Army’s next-generation all-terrain armoured vehicle will begin to be put through its paces this month in a series of special trials.

Boxer is set to become the new British Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV), an eight-by-eight-wheeled, rapidly adaptable, armoured transport vehicle.

The UK prototypes will begin industry trials ahead of Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) commencing its own customer trials in Autumn.

Warrant Officer Class One Gareth McQueen, who is one of the military personnel working on the Boxer project, said: “It’s going to be an excellent addition to the Armed Forces.

“It’s low logistic need, reach and mobility ensure it’s relevant for any global scenario that requires rapidly deployable infantry mass.”

The Boxer vehicles will form part of the Army’s Armoured Brigade Combat Teams, set up to deploy rapidly over long distances and used to transport troops to the frontline to perform a variety of missions, from low-intensity peacekeeping to warfighting.

It could be described as the Swiss Army knife of armoured vehicles thanks to its unique modular design which means it can be rapidly adapted to fill a range of roles on the battlefield.

The 38.5 tonnes Boxer combines an eight-wheeled armoured drive module powered by the same multi-fuel Rolls Royce engine that powers the Ajax armoured vehicle – with 13 switchable mission modules that can be changed to fit the mission or threat environment in just 20 minutes.

The Army will receive four variants delivering four different roles – an Infantry Carrier, a Specialist Carrier, a Command Post Carrier and an Ambulance.

The digitised armoured vehicle can reach speeds of up to 60mph on roads and is hardened to withstand the heat, shockwaves, and electromagnetic effects of a nuclear explosion.

It has a Nuclear Biological and Chemical protection system to detect and counter threats as well as a 360-degree Situational Awareness System.

The Specialist Carrier will be able to support all the weapon systems currently in service – the heavy machine gun, the general-purpose machine gun (GPMG), the grenade machine gun (GMG) and the JAVELIN anti-tank guided weapon station.

Future-proofed to operate in the digital age, its network-enabled communication systems will work with Bowman but has the capacity to work with future networks to provide secure communications to other combat vehicles within the Brigade Combat Team.

Boxer variants are already in service with various NATO countries including Germany, the Netherlands and Lithuania.

In the UK, the Boxer is expected to be delivered to battalions within the Armoured Brigade Combat Teams.