IAV 2022: Boxer bulks up
A 41 tonne Boxer without a mission module mastered a 1 m vertical step during trials in December 2021. (Artec)
Rheinmetall Landsysteme-Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) joint venture Artec conducted trials in December 2021 with a Boxer armoured vehicle weighing 41 tonnes, Janes learned at the International Armoured Vehicles (IAV) 2022 conference being held in London on 24–27 January.
Artec managing director Stefan Lischka revealed during a presentation at IAV 2022 on 25 January that the Boxer, without a mission module, traversed gaps up to 2.2 m, climbed a 60° slope, and mastered a 1 m vertical step during the trials. He said there was no actual customer requirement for such a heavy Boxer but placed the trials in the context of armoured fighting vehicles gaining 20–30% more weight within 20 years of first being introduced because of protection enhancements.
Boxer originally weighed 33 tonnes, with the heaviest version being the remote-controlled howitzer (RCH) version at 39 tonnes. Lischka said the trial with a Boxer weighing 41 tonnes meant that two tonnes could be added to this version's vehicle weight for protection or any other customer requirement. He even questioned whether 41 tonnes was the Boxer's maximum weight limit.
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