Boxer Combat Vehicles Look Like Forest Monsters During Exercise Down Under

As it seeks to replace the current Australian Light Armoured Vehicle (ASLAV) that serves its military needs, the country’s Department of Defence recently approved the purchase of over 200 Boxer vehicles manufactured by German defense contractor Rheinmetall.

Not many of them have been delivered yet, but the ones that were have already started being put through their paces by the local military. This month, though, and well into the next one, the first major deployment of Boxer vehicles is taking place during the Diamond Walk 2021 exercise at Shoalwater Bay Training Area in Central Queensland.

The Australian Army calls the deployment “the largest exercise the vehicle has operated in since its introduction,” and seeing the massive 8×8s move or fire their weapons kind of fits right in with that description.

The Boxer is a fighting machine that can be converted to perform a variety of tasks. It has been on the market for about a decade, and the armed forces of several European countries already deploy it.

For their specific needs, the Australians opted for something called combat reconnaissance vehicles. Their version is equipped with a Lance 30mm turret, one you can see in action in the video below. The turret contains all the hardware the vehicle needs to “detect, characterize and track threats on the battlefield,” but also a host of weapons, ranging from non-lethal to a guided anti-tank missile system.

During the exercise Down Under, which runs until June 11, the Boxer vehicles are deployed alongside 7th Combat Brigade.