The UK government has announced it will order 100 more Rheinmetall Boxer 8×8 armoured vehicles to add to the 523 already on order for the British Army.

The UK joined the Boxer program in 2018 through the European Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation (OCCAR), and ARTEC, a consortium of Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), and signed a contract for 500 Boxers in November 2019.

The first 117 British Army Boxers are being built in Germany, but the remaining 506 vehicles are scheduled to be built on a new Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land production line being established at Telford in the UK.

“In these difficult times, our deep defence partnership offers reassurance to our people and the wider world, while also ensuring we are ready to respond to new threats,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a release. “This joint program will ensure our militaries have state-of-the-art equipment as the invasion of Ukraine shakes the very foundations of European peace and security.

Defence Procurement Minister, Jeremy Quin added, “This order will accelerate the delivery of the Boxer fleet to the British Army and increase its numbers. The land equipment upgrade is a vital element of the Integrated Review, on which we continue to deliver. Doing so, alongside our German allies, creates opportunities for both our armed forces.”

Rheinmetall says some 1,500 Boxers are on order for the armed forces of Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, the UK, and Australia. Australia has taken delivery of its first 25 Block I Boxers from Germany, with production of the balance of its order for 211 vehicles switching to Rheinmetall’s Military Vehicles Centre Of Excellence (MILVEHCOE) near Ipswich in Queensland.