UK joins Boxer Multi-Role Armoured Vehicle Support Partnership.

The United Kingdom has moved one step closer to joining the Boxer Support Partnership (SP) as it has received approval from the other Boxer partnership Member Nations (the Netherlands, Germany and Lithuania) to proceed to the next stage of fully joining the partnership.

Boxer Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (Picture source: Army Recognition)

This next stage will see the United Kingdom work alongside NSPA staff in refining the UKs support requirements such that negotiations on the UK's entry into the support partnership contract can commence later this year. In seeking to join the Boxer partnership, the UK is looking to gain the benefits of the support collaboration with its fellow Boxer user nations in taking advantage of the joint logistics support and economies of scale offered by this unique mechanism.

The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) is the hub for Life Cycle Management and Integrated Logistics Support for Boxer armoured vehicles, relying on the expertise of the Boxer System Management Group (SMG), which comprises a dedicated team of 20 NSPA experts. Overall, the Agency will support a modern fleet of more than 1,200 Boxer armoured vehicles and is open to new NATO nations acquiring Boxer, as it can complement their national systems by offering bespoke support services.

The British Boxer armoured vehicles are currently under the production phase, managed by the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR). Subject to successful negotiations, the United Kingdom will benefit from the existing experience and support network that NSPA has put in place over several years, to provide a solid life cycle foundation for their Boxer Mechanised Infantry Vehicles (MIV). This structure will be in place by the time the first vehicles enter into service and will be gradually adapted and increased in conjunction with the delivery of different vehicle variants. Likewise, current partner nations will benefit by sharing resources and costs and exploiting commonalities and economies of scale with their new member.

The Support Partnership (SP) structure is a unique feature of NSPA’s services, providing a proven legal framework that allows two or more nations to organize common logistics support for a given weapon system. Nations provide governance and guidance whereas NSPA manages the support requested by the nations. This reduces costs and logistics footprint and provides a common and efficient logistics support structure. The concept has proven its effectiveness for more than 60 years as it improves the availability and interoperability of supported systems.

NSPA currently manages 32 support partnerships covering more than 90 weapons systems, from which Boxer is the newest.