The Army’s new Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles have made their first overseas deployment, accompanying personnel from various Defence and other Australian government agencies to the Indo-Pacific region on board the Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) HMAS Adelaide.
Defence told ADM two Boxers took part in the recently-concluded Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2022 (IPE22) regional engagement activity.
According to the Army’s Forces Command, the Boxers of the 7th Combat Brigade went ashore while the Adelaide was in Singapore to support multi-day combined arms urban-training exercise involving soldiers from the 3rd Brigade.
Photos and videos released by the Army of the urban training event showed both Boxers, named “Absolutely” and “Animosity”, taking part. The training serials were held in Singapore’s Murai Urban Training Facility and involved both day and night training.
According to Boxer Troop Leader Captain Stefeno Rankin, the purpose of the training was “to test the integration of the Boxer and the infantry with the Joint Pre-Landing Force and the ground combat element, and exercise our ability to conduct urban operations”.
Taking a wider view of the deployment, Rankin noted that the first overseas deployment of the Boxer was important as it “showcases our capacity to deploy for contingency reasons within our region”.
The Boxer CRV was selected by the Australian Army as the replacement for its ASLAVs under Project Land 400 Phase 2, with an eventual planned fleet of 211 vehicles - built at Rheinmetall’s factories in Redbank, Queensland and Germany, with support from a number of Australian companies.
The platform attained Initial Operation Capability (IOC) with the Army in October.
IPE22 includes HMA Ships Adelaide and Anzac with 1,100 personnel from all three ADF services and representatives from across the Australian government, including the Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force, and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It also involves participation from Australian defence industry.
It sees participants conducting interactions with 14 countries across Southeast Asia and the Northeast Indian Ocean region and is taking place between 26 September to 26 November 2022. The ships and personnel will return to Australia by mid-December.