The Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) awarded a contract on behalf of the Republic of Lithuania for the procurement of BOXER Infantry Fighting Vehicles to the vehicle’s manufacturer ARTEC GmbH.
The contract was signed in Vilnius by the Lithuanian Minister of National Defence, Dr. Juozas Olekas, OCCAR Director Tim Rowntree and ARTEC’s Chief Executive Officers Stefan Lischka and Christoph Heumann. The ceremony was witnessed by German, Netherlands and Lithuanian officials and by representatives from Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles, the shareholders of ARTEC GmbH.
The contract includes the delivery of 88 BOXER in four Infantry Fighting Vehicle versions developed for Lithuania, which will be called “Vilkas” within the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The Infantry Fighting Vehicles will be equipped with a remote-controlled turret with a 30 mm cannon and an anti-tank missile. The first Lithuanian BOXER vehicles will be delivered by the end of 2017. The BOXER vehicle will provide the Lithuanian Army with a state of the art mechanised infantry capability.
The BOXER multi-role armoured vehicle was developed by ARTEC for Germany and the Netherlands, which had tasked OCCAR to execute the BOXER Programme as their joint management organisation. The BOXER vehicle comprises a modular design with a common drive module and exchangeable mission- and nation-specific mission modules. The BOXER entered into service in 2009 and has proven its high performance, combat readiness and reliability during its successful deployment to Afghanistan. The Lithuanian order increases the total number of BOXER vehicles to be produced to nearly 700.
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ARTEC GmbH BOXER Infantry Fighting Vehicles Chief Executive Officer Christoph Heumann Director Dr. Juozas Olekas Germany Lithuania Lithuanian Minister of National Defence Netherlands OCCAR Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation Republic of Lithuania Stefan Lischka Tim Rowntree Vilnius
Post written by: Domhnall MacInnes
I am a features writer for MOD DCB magazine and Defence Online and a Content Marketing Executive with BiP Solutions.
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