The Ministry of Defense orders more than 100 armored "Boxer" troop carriers for the German Armed Forces.
Down Under, these are produced by the German armaments company Rheinmetall.
That's for a reason.
Munich/Strausberg – The troops are getting new material: Boris Pistorius’ (SPD) Federal Defense Ministry is purchasing more than 100 new “Boxer” wheeled armored vehicles for the Bundeswehr.
Bundeswehr: Heer gets more than 100 new wheeled tanks "Boxer" - from the special fund
According to the ministry from Berlin, Defense Secretary Thomas Hitschler and Australian Armaments Minister Pat Conroy signed a declaration on the intended procurement of more than 100 so-called heavy weapon carriers.
The funds for this are to come from the 100 billion euro "Bundeswehr special fund", which the traffic light coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had promised after the outbreak of the Ukraine war.
Curious: it is a military vehicle from the German armaments group Rheinmetall.
The armored troop carrier for infantry, which is also available as an ambulance vehicle, is not built in Germany but in Australia.
This is how the agreement between the two countries came about.
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The "GTK Boxer": The Bundeswehr is getting more than 100 new armored troop carriers, which are being built by the German armaments group Rheinmetall in Australia.
© IMAGO / photo library
The production of the new wheeled tanks is already underway, the Federal Ministry of Defense said.
The aim is to deliver the first vehicles to the Bundeswehr in 2025.
The German armed forces use the "Boxer" in the army, i.e. in the land forces.
"Boxer" for the Bundeswehr: Manufactured by Rheinmetall - but in Australia
The ministry spoke of a "tight schedule".
The agreement is a "visible sign of the trusting cooperation between Germany and Australia as a partner with values".
Nothing was known about costs.
The Australian business newspaper Financial Review
had already reported
on the forthcoming order at the beginning of March .
According to the report, the order volume is up to 1.8 billion euros.
The German ambassador to Canberra, Markus Ederer, told the
Financial Review
: "The German government has notified the Australian government of its intention to purchase Australian-made boxers for the German army."
The "GTK Boxer" for the Bundeswehr: transport of infantry and ambulance
Task: | Wheeled tank for infantry transport, armored ambulance |
Crew: | Driver, commander, gunner and 7 soldiers infantry |
Armament: | 7.62×51mm machine gun and/or 12.7×99mm NATO caliber machine gun and/or 40mm automatic grenade launcher |
Speed: | 103 km/h (road) |
Range: | 1050 km (road) |
Manufacturer: | German arms companies Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann |
In use by armed forces: | Germany, Australia, Great Britain, Netherlands and Lithuania |
The background is apparently an armament policy deal between the two countries.
Specifically: Australia originally bought a little more than 200 boxers.
According to
the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ),
Rheinmetall set up production for the armored personnel carrier in Queensland as compensation, Rheinmetall Defense Australia Pty Ltd.
Now more than 100 new Boxers for the Bundeswehr are to be built there: by an Australian subsidiary of a German armaments company.
(pm)
List of rubrics: © IMAGO / photothek