The UK’s Boxer 8×8 Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV) programme has entered formal customer Verification and Validation trials this month at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedford, England.
As part of the British Army’s modernization plan, two Rheinmetall prototype vehicles in the command variant are conducting trials. The trials focus on mission systems, including C4I, electronic countermeasures, user-human machine interface, electromagnetic compatibility, and climatic, with ARTEC and KNDS supporting the trials.
The first series of MIV production vehicles will be delivered later this year. These vehicles will be command variants and will be built in the Rheinmetall factory located in Kassel, Germany.
Currently, they are in their final build stages before being shipped to the UK. The production of UK Boxer vehicles has already started in the UK, which is driving the delivery of UK economic and prosperity benefits, creating jobs in the land industry in the UK. Rheinmetall has also made a further commitment to the UK supply chain, which will provide into European programmes.
In 2019, the UK Ministry of Defence placed an order for 523 Boxer vehicles. Later in April 2022, the order was increased by an additional 100 vehicles. The Boxer is an 8×8 wheeled armoured vehicle with high levels of protection. Its modular design allows for a greater number of variants than any other vehicle system. The British Army has ordered four types of variants including Infantry Carrying Vehicles, Command & Control, Field Ambulance and Specialist Carrier variants.
