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UK Buys Back Into Boxer MRAV to meet MIV requirement


Kingsman

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On 4/6/2018 at 5:37 PM, Dave Fleming said:

There are pics out there showing Boxer and AMV35 alongside an M1 and ASLAV which shows just how much bigger Boxer is compared to it’s predecessor (iPad won’t let me copy a direct link)

 

http://www.contactairlandandsea.com/2017/06/21/land-400-scale-things-come/

 

Now where have I seen that before?

 

Shane

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I guess Revell is perhaps more likely to do that, but I'm equally sure that HB won't want to miss out on new customers in the UK and the Antipodes.  As this was intended to be an Off The Shelf purchase by the UK I can't foresee any major structural differences for us: fixtures and fittings.

 

I don't know the current MIV variant list, but I'm sure it will become clear.  FRES UV had something over a dozen IIRC, including 2 medical and several command/comms-related as well as APCs.  But over 150 Unique Tactical Roles (i.e. different configurations within those Variants) were identified.  There was pressure to reduce those "tribal" cap badge configuration differences in order to foster more efficient fleet management and improve inter-operability.  There was also a lot of interest in ro-ro mission fits for rapid re-configuration at the tactical level and common radio racking and cabling for the same reason.  This was especially true for (e.g.) dismounted heavy weapons racking: dismounted HMG, GMG, mortar, Javelin and HVM teams were slated to have their own vehicles with appropriate stowage.  Of course Boxer offers the possibility of interchangeable mission pods, but this is likely to be a level 3 base workshop task.

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  • 3 months later...

For those of you who may have missed the subtlety, Dr Liam Fox MP let slip in a TV interview the other day that the current UK EU exit proposal keeps the UK in the Government Procurement Agreement.

 

So what?  So - this means the continuation of EU-wide open competition for all public procurement worth more than tuppence ha'penny (in realistic terms).  So no opportunity to Take Back Control of public procurement and ensure that UK tax ££ are spent in the UK economy.  Hmmmm......  Leave the EU and Take Back Control?  It seems not.

 

Of course with public bodies being legally obliged for decades not to favour UK suppliers, and being equally legally obliged not to support or otherwise intervene in the UK industrial base, we now have almost no sovereign capability to make most land service military equipment.

 

Had we stayed in the MRAV project instead of leaving 15 years or so ago and coming back, the UK would have had a share of all MRAV manufacturing - including exports - and probably final assembly of UK vehicles.  Probably at Telford, possibly at Newcastle.  Now the best we will get is UK-specific fit-out of vehicles built in Europe, as with Ajax and siblings.

 

As we have a recent habit of naming our personnel vehicles after breeds of dog, do we presume that the name Boxer will be retained?

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  • 1 year later...

The most elegant solution to avoid the survivability issue would be to make it completely unmanned/optionally piloted, and not worry about crew survivability at all.

 

The number of unmanned/autonomous recon vehicles i saw at defense expos this year makes me wonder why we haven't begun incorporating them into our land forces yet - the tech is certainly out there and other nations are adopting it. 

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  • 8 months later...
On 02/04/2018 at 06:03, Procopius said:

MJ-8458-main-image.jpg

 

Anyone else play Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0 back in the day? Just me? Well, this looks like something straight out of one of the sourcebooks.

 

 

Inspired by the Austin Powers' Shaguar, maybe?

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