KMW and WFEL UK awarded UK Boxer MIV sub-contract
Image courtesy WFEL UK Ltd.
Horstman UK will supply over 250 angular gear boxes and control units for the British Army’s Boxer Mechanised Infantry Vehicle programme.
Following rigorous supply chain evaluation, Horstman was selected to ensure best value and lowest risk to the Boxer programme.
This £12 million contract award means that another significant transfer of technology to the UK will be undertaken from Horstman's parent company, RENK, which has made all production Angle Drive Gearboxes for the Boxer vehicles to date. In close collaboration with KMW and WFEL, RENK will ensure all required technical support and investment into Horstman, to ensure that identical Boxer gearbox products are built in the UK at Horstman’s premises in Bath, following identical processes and procedures. The gearboxes will then be supplied to WFEL's new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for assembly into the new Boxer vehicles being produced in Stockport.
Based in Bath, UK, Horstman is already well known for its armoured vehicle suspension systems and this Boxer contract re-kindles a significant history in producing gearboxes for battle tank turrets, tactical 4x4’s and combat engineering vehicles.
Having successfully supplied suspension systems for German Puma Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Horstman already has established relationships with KMW's Engineering and Delivery teams and this sub-contract for the UK Boxer gearbox programme will create or sustain up to 20 skilled roles across Horstman and its wider UK supply chain. Horstman will further expand its Inspection, Assembly, Test and Paint Teams based in Bath.
The Boxer MIV programme aims to source 60% by value of the contract from within the UK, protecting sovereign engineering and manufacturing skills and ensuring that the vehicles remain supported through their 30-year operational life.
Just like WFEL, Horstman UK counts amongst its employees a number of ex-military personnel, well versed and experienced in working with the British Army and industry alike and involvement in this UK Boxer Programme continues a long heritage of providing combat mobility solutions in support of British and allied forces.
In November 2019, ARTEC, a joint venture between two German companies, Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, signed the £2.3bn contract to deliver 500+ Boxer vehicles to the British Army.
The vehicles will be manufactured in the UK, with production subcontracted equally between WFEL and RBSL. The companies will undertake the fabrication of the armoured vehicle structures together with the assembly, integration and test of the complete vehicles at their respective
facilities in Stockport and Telford. The MIV contract will sustain jobs at RBSL and WFEL sites across the UK, as well as a vibrant national supply chain.
Boxer is a state-of-the-art wheeled armoured vehicle with outstanding mobility and protection features. Its design allows for any Mission Module configuration with a payload of up to circa 15 tonnes. So far, more than 800 vehicles in various configurations have been supplied to, or ordered by, three NATO nations – Germany, the Netherlands and Lithuania – as well as Australia.
