Rheinmetall Boxer Selected for LAND 400 Phase 2

14 Maret 2018

Rheinmetall Defence's Boxer CRV (photos : Rheinmetall Defence)

Rheinmetall Defence Australia’s Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle (CRV) has been selected to fulfil the Australian Army’s LAND 400 Phase 2 requirement.

The selection was made yesterday after the National Security Committee (NSC) of Cabinet met to consider Defence’s recommendation of the Boxer to replace the ASLAV ahead of BAE Systems’ rival AMV35 CRV. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Defence Minister Marise Payne and Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne are expected to make the winning announcement at Enoggera Barracks in Brisbane today.

The three-year competition was hotly contested, with the two main contenders mounting compelling capability and industrial cases for their contenders. While both vehicles are reported to have met Army’s requirement, the Boxer’s superior capability and protection for its crew and passengers won out over the lighter and more nimble AMV35.

Rheinmetall has undertaken to manufacture the first 25 vehicles in Germany while it trains its local workforce, and the remaining 200 at a new Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence (MILVEHCOE) at Ipswich in Queensland.

But in a move reminiscent of the recent SEA 1180 offshore patrol vessel decision, industry insiders have suggested the industrial teams and locations bid by Rheinmetall may be ‘tweaked’ in order to give more work to Victorian industry. If it had been successful, BAE Systems had undertaken to build the AMV35 at the former Holden factory at Fisherman’s Bend in Melbourne.

The Boxer CRV and AMV35 were shortlisted for LAND 400 Phase 2 in 2016, and each supplier was required to provide three vehicles for a comprehensive Risk Mitigation Activity (RMA).

In a 28 July 2016 statement, Deputy Secretary of the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) Kim Gillis said, “When introduced into service, Army will have a capability which represents a quantum leap in protection for our soldiers, while providing enhanced sensors and weapon systems for the crew.”

In an interview with ADBR after the shortlist announcement, Army’s Head of Modernisation and Strategic Planning MAJGEN Gus MacLachlan said, “What the First Principles Review made clear to us is that we have to understand when it is important to take risk with innovation.

“When you look at ground armoured vehicles, does Australia have the capacity or the need to be at the absolute leading edge of capability when armies much bigger than us, some of which have got plenty of resources, are doing developmental work,” he added. “In that case, the answer is: no, we do not; we just need to be able to leverage the best practice of affluent Western [countries’] armies, and so that is what we chose to do.”

(ADBR)