The British Army’s future Boxer mechanised infantry vehicle may not reach its scheduled initial operating capability (IOC) deadline due to incomplete technical documentation, effectively the service’s paperwork that is required for vast swathes of training intended to familiarise personnel with the new platform.
All told, it is understood that more than16,500 pages of technical documentation have to be completed, which are used in the development of series training manuals that provide guidance to maintainers, operators, and their trainers.
The British Army’s Boxer IOC is due to be met by Q4 2025, more than seven years after it rejoined the pan-European programme.
Speaking at the recent DVD 2024 event at UTAC Millbrook, the British Army’s director mechanised infantry programme, Col Iain Fake, said that Boxer was “on a knife’s edge” in relation to meeting its IOC, with the technical documentation the main timeline risk.
Although some work on creating effective training programmes for the wider British Army to use when the Boxer is introduced into service, it has been hampered by service doctrine requiring accompanying paperwork.
In July 2024 it was reported that global supply chains also represented a significant risk to the UK Boxer IOC, and noted as a possibility earlier still, in January 2024.
At the DVD event, Fake also acknowledged that supply chains were the other main risk for the UK being able to meet the Boxer’s IOC, with European operators of the platform likely being used to provide parts as required until a UK capability could come online.
Boxer: additional variants in the pipeline
A total of 623 Boxer vehicles across four distinct variants are on contract in the following amount: infantry carrier (146 units), command platform (212 units), specialist carrier (200 units), and ambulance (65 units).
The first UK production Boxer is expected to begin its build process in Q4 2024, while the first of the ambulance variants will be delivered in November or December this year.
Meanwhile, information revealed that the DVD event also showed Boxer programme’s so-called strategic pipeline, which included variants not among the original four that could be acquired in the years ahead.
This strategic pipeline includes the Boxer-based RCH 155 self-propelled artillery platform, with the UK recently signing a deal to undertake the co-development of the capability with Germany, as well as the introduction of an Amoured Mortar Vehicle (AMV) variant.
While the RCH 155 is well-known, the public detailing of the prospect of the AMV variant and a proposed timeline is rare. British Army officials indicated the AMV variant would have an IOC of 2030, compared to an anticipated 2029 for the RCH 155 platform.
Other Boxer types being considered as part of the strategic pipeline include the SERPENS deep find radar platform, which appeared to have a 2031 IOC, a ground-based air defence (GBAD) C-SAT variant (2032 IOC timeframe) that would feature something like a SkyRanger turret, and a TYRO combat support bridging vehicle reaching IOC a little earlier, around 2029.
