The use of armored vehicles in military operations provides a high level of ballistic and blast resistance, represents a fundamental element for ground troops and increases their mobility. Armored vehicles can be divided into combat vehicles and support vehicles. They are all-terrain vehicles designed to protect and transport their crew, used for a variety of tactical and special operations.
Many of these vehicles are designed with a hull of a special aluminum alloy, making them light in the air, buoyant in water, and resistant to shrapnel or bullets. The vehicle inside includes spall liners, designed to stop or absorb the impact of explosions, projectiles and small fragments, in order to protect the crew from the risk of injury.
The Boxer armored transport vehicle produced by the Rheinmetall company is highly mobile, it is a state-of-the-art wheeled vehicle whose modular design permits a wide variety of mission-specific configurations. Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) manufactures the Boxer in cooperation with fellow German defense contractor Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) under a bi-national programme, in which Rheinmetall holds a 64% stake. Rheinmetall proposes the GTX Boxer JODAA, an operational and technology demonstrator, which includes the remote controlled driving to supported by camera systems and the autonomous operation of several components.
The vehicle is constructed from welded steel armour and with an AMAP (Advanced Modular Armor Protection) composite armour provides baseline protection of STANAG 4569 Level 4 allaround resistant against Armour-Piercing ammunition (AP) and artillery shell Splinters.
At the automotive level, the Boxer vehicle is equipped with an MTU/Rolls Royce 8V199 TE20 multifuel engine, its maximum speed is 103km/h.
Landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) can cause damage and injuries, a V-shaped hull was designed to reduce the bottom of the vehicle damage and limit the risks to the crew.
As protection from possible attacks, armored vehicles use APS (Active Protection Systems) and passive protection solutions. The APS consists of countermeasures to deflect anti-tank guided missiles while the passive measures provide for the strengthening of the vehicle protection with rugged armor that absorbs and reduces the impact energy threats, prevents perforations.
Rheinmetall has created a new generation of standoff active protection technologies, the StrikeShield Active Protection System (APS). It is one of the world’s most advanced and effective systems for protecting military vehicles of practically every weight class from operational threats, especially light antitank weapons, guided missiles and certain Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). This vehicle offers new possibilities for operational and tactical missions such as support of UAV and UGV unmanned vehicles.
In addition Rheinmetall develops passive system solutions by applying the latest modular composite technologies for protecting from ballistic threats, for mine protection, IED protection, signature protection, protection from shaped charges and protection for military operations in built-up terrain.
Survivability of combat vehicles into hostile zones is maximized by reducing detectability. To avoid the detection and tracking by modern IR Signature, the hot exhaust of Boxer vehicle is discharged together with the cooling air via thermally insulated ducts.
A Boxer vehicle consists of two components, the Drive Module and Mission Module. The Drive Module includes the power pack, running gear, hull drive module, driveline and suspension parts, fuel system, electrical components, CBRN and fire detection/extinguishing devices and rear ramp equipment. The Mission Modules allows the vehicle to be rapidly changed to meet different operational requirements. Mission Modules can be swapped within an hour, it is a shaped container that sockets onto the back of the Drive Module, houses the systems and tools. The module provides a hatch at the front right to allow the driver to access the position from the mission module.
The BOXER is a perfect solution for a successful task, an 8×8 all-terrain heavily vehicle with a common drive module and an exchangeable mission module, making it a multirole armored fighting vehicle.
Cover and Article Images taken from Rheinmetall Video
Video Courtesy of Rheinmetall
