NIEUWS      
 21-06-2006 14:48  
NEDERLAND GAAT DOOR MET BOXER PANTSERVOERTUIG


Nederland wil het Boxerproject voor de vervanging van pantservoertuigen voortzetten. Dat heeft staatssecretaris van Defensie Cees van der Knaap vandaag tijdens een Algemeen Overleg in de Tweede Kamer bekend gemaakt. De ontwikkeling van de Boxer is naar verwachting eind volgend jaar afgerond, waarna Nederland tweehonderd voertuigen wil laten produceren. Deze moeten volgens planning vanaf 2010 instromen.

De Boxer is een groot pantservoertuig dat Defensie wil gebruiken voor gevechtsondersteunende taken zoals het vervoer van vracht, genietaken, commandovoering en gewondentransport. Nederland en Duitsland ontwikkelen de Boxer samen. De productie moet deels in Nederland plaatsvinden.

Het voornemen van Defensie zal nog door het Parlement worden behandeld.

The Fighter Still Remains... Dutch to Continue With Boxer APC Program
DID's Benelux reader David Vandenberghe recently translated a pair of Dutch Ministerie van Defensie releases for us, indicating that the Netherlands will remain in the ARTEC consortium's joint Boxer MRAV modular armored personnel carrier project with Germany. Despite earlier reservations, The Dutch secretary of Defense Cees van der Knaap declared to the 2nd Chamber that the Netherlands wants to continue with the project which is expected to be completed by the end of 2007. On June 28th, a relase noted that the Chamber gave the green light to continue, as the APC's price has apparently been reduced to an acceptable level after negotiations with Stork.

The Boxer is an unusual vehicle with a special design feature...

Its English acronym is \"Multi Role Armoured Vehicle,\" but rather than being a family of different vehicles, the Boxer will use a single chassis with snap-in modules for different purposes from infantry carrier to command, cargo, ambulance, et.

The base 8×8 vehicle provides a load capacity to 8 tonnes and has an internal capacity of more than 14 square meters. The Mission modules fit into the base vehicle's steel shell, incorporating a primary safety cell with a triple floor and shaped sides to deflect mine blasts. Ceramic modular armour is sandwiched between the vehicle cell and the steel coat, and all three elements are secured by fastening bolts. The shaped sides of the modules also work to deflect mine blasts away from the soldiers inside, while a double-lined hull soaks up critical blast deformation.

The vehicle and modules are air transportable (though at up to 33 tonnes, an A400M or above would be required to carry both vehicle and module), and modules are interchangeable in less than one hour.

The Netherlands plans to purchase 200 Boxer vehicles for transport, engineering, command and transportation of wounded, replacing some of their YP-408s and all of their M577s (command post version of the M113). Note that this figure is down from initial estimates of 384 vehicles, which were envisioned to include the command post, battlefield damage repair, ambulance, cargo, and pioneer variants as well as the basic armored personnel carrier. Which variants have survived within the new 200 vehicle order was not released. Note that in addition to the Boxers, Dutch Army will also be operating BAE Hagglunds' CV90-35 MkIIIs as Infantry Fighting Vehicles.

Jane's reports that under ARTEC's revised bid, Germany, which initially projected an order of 1,000 vehicles, would receive 240 Boxer MRAVs (200 APCs, 40 mobile command posts) with an option for 72 more vehicles that are initially configured as ATEV ambulance variants.

The programme is being managed by the European Armaments Agency, OCCAR (Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation). Britain was initially part of the MRAV consortium as well, but left in 2003 to pursue its own future armored vehicles project called FRES.

Dutch Lawmakers Approve Purchase of 200 Boxers: KMW

By SEBASTIAN SCHULTE, BONN 29-06-2006 1418
Defens News.

The Dutch parliament has decided to buy 200 Boxer armored personnel carriers, announced Krauss Maffei-Wegmann (KMW), the German company that produces the vehicles.
In a June 29 press release, KMW described the Dutch decision as a “milestone towards a European-developed and jointly produced armored transport vehicle.”
Frank Haun, chief executive of KMW, said the Dutch yes to the Boxer “underlines the strong will of defining and realizing multinational defense procurements on a European basis.”
The Boxer is a highly mobile four-wheel-drive armored vehicle with a high payload capacity and room for up to 10 soldiers. Its modular design allows the vehicle’s equipment to be changed to suit each mission — including command, medical transport and repair — within minutes.
The German Army also intends to buy 200 Boxers with the option to purchase 72 additional vehicles for the medical transport role; approval by the German parliament is expected later this year.