2805662

My album of the KF41 & Lance 2 turret:
 
https://imgur.com/gallery/QpLTD9e

My album of the KF41 & Lance 2 turret:
 
https://imgur.com/gallery/QpLTD9e

I received the “two minute product brief” (which included the use of augmented reality goggles to visualise the power train) on this yesterday. 
 
A couple of design considerations and concepts:
- designed for river crossings & use on inland waterways. 
- targeted customers are primarily South & Central American and Asian (including Indonesia, Colombia, & Singapore). 
- Operation in Sea States greater than Sea State 1 is questionable. 
- 5 metric tonne payload. 
- not intended for opposed landings. 
- can be fitted with a turret - but cannot carry troops if so fitted. 
- Armoured capsule is comparatively small, relative to the vehicle size. 
- wholly funded by KMW. 
- Marder based. 
 
My pics here: https://imgur.com/gallery/7zxppwb

I received the “two minute product brief” (which included the use of augmented reality goggles to visualise the power train) on this yesterday. 
 
A couple of design considerations and concepts:
- designed for river crossings & use on inland waterways. 
- targeted customers are primarily South & Central American and Asian (including Indonesia, Colombia, & Singapore). 
- Operation in Sea States greater than Sea State 1 is questionable. 
- 5 metric tonne payload. 
- not intended for opposed landings. 
- can be fitted with a turret - but cannot carry troops if so fitted. 
- Armoured capsule is comparatively small, relative to the vehicle size. 
- wholly funded by KMW. 
- Marder based. 
 
My pics here: https://imgur.com/gallery/7zxppwb

I received the “two minute product brief” (which included the use of augmented reality goggles to visualise the power train) on this yesterday. 
 
A couple of design considerations and concepts:
- designed for river crossings & use on inland waterways. 
- targeted customers are primarily South & Central American and Asian (including Indonesia, Colombia, & Singapore). 
- Operation in Sea States greater than Sea State 1 is questionable. 
- 5 metric tonne payload. 
- not intended for opposed landings. 
- can be fitted with a turret - but cannot carry troops if so fitted. 
- Armoured capsule is comparatively small, relative to the vehicle size. 
- wholly funded by KMW. 
- Marder based. 
 
My pics here: https://imgur.com/gallery/7zxppwb

I received the “two minute product brief” (which included the use of augmented reality goggles to visualise the power train) on this yesterday. 
 
A couple of design considerations and concepts:
- designed for river crossings & use on inland waterways. 
- targeted customers are primarily South & Central American and Asian (including Indonesia, Colombia, & Singapore). 
- Operation in Sea States greater than Sea State 1 is questionable. 
- 5 metric tonne payload. 
- not intended for opposed landings. 
- can be fitted with a turret - but cannot carry troops if so fitted. 
- Armoured capsule is comparatively small, relative to the vehicle size. 
- wholly funded by KMW. 
- Marder based. 
 
My pics here: https://imgur.com/gallery/7zxppwb

So that's where the Aussies store their Tooheys', hm?

Interestingly (well, to me) the CREW box power is supplied via a power adapter adjacent the cross-wind mast. That power adapter was first developed to meet the Australian requirement for a refrigerator. 

No, Slovenia got you covered...
 
https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/landwarfareintl/slovenia-weighs-boxer-mortar-variant/

The Lance turret added "only" 3 million dollars to the price tag. The British got it cheaper for only 10 million dollars a piece, while the Aussies paid more than 13 million dollars. US dollars.

The drive module has a weight of ca. 22 metric tons (in the basic version accepted in service in 2011). The drive module of the Boxer A1 with new external storage containers and improved belly armor might be a bit heavier.

Boxer with CT40 turret and ATGM launcher.
 
The UK wants a total of ~800 Boxers (but supposedly currently plans with only ~500, because money is limited), which could make it the largest single Boxer contract yet. Saudia-Arabia was close to order a total of 928 Boxers including some very exotic variants, but the contract was never signed due to politics. It was apparently very close to be signed - Rheinmetall even requested an export licence for an initial 200 vehicles, but it was denied. The Saudi deal would have included 119 anti-tank Boxers with 105 mm main gun in a turret, 100 Boxers with dozer blades to break through barricades and 60 Boxers to transport up to four VIPs each (probably to evacuate the Saudi-Arabian royal family in case of a revolt/war) incorporating sinks, fridges and safes. The German government didn't want to approve such a deal and an attempt to circumvent this (by selling the licence for the Boxer to some Spanish company and making the vehicles there) failed. This is why Saudi-Arabia ordered the LAV 700.
 
The UK wants 10 variants for the MIV:
armored personnel carrier command and control vehicle armored recovery vehicle mortar carrier ambulance armored engineering vehicle joint fire control vehicle infantry fighting/reconnaissance vehicle 155 mm self-propelled gun carrier short-range air-defence vehicle Apparently this makes the Boxer the best option, because all variants are either (to be) ordered or fielded already. Germany is interesting in a SHORAD system based on the Boxer (NNbS;  Nah- und Nächstbereichsschutz), an artillery variant with RCH 155 turret, a Boxer for the JFST and a fire-support variant with 30 mm gun. Slovenia wants to buy IFV/recce vehicles and mortar carriers, Lithunia ordered IFVs and scout vehicles with the Samson Mk II RWS, Australia buys turreted CRVs and apparently some ARVs. The 155 mm artillery variant seems to currently be an unique selling point of the Boxer, because other 8x8 wheeled vehicles have not been demonstrated in such a variant.
 
The armament of the APC variant is supposed to be a a Kongsberg Protector with Javeling ATGM. This is why the Dutch variants (already fitted with the Protector RWS) are meant to be the basis for the British variants. According to Nicholas Drummond on Twitter, the ambulance variant of the Boxer was well-received (although he doesn't specify which ambulance variant - Germany and the Netherlands use different ones).
 
 
 
 

"You mentioned cleaner-burning powder: I’m assuming it’s double based propellant?"
 
They all are, the propellant used in DBP87 just happened to be exceptionally dirty which caused excessive cleaning required or fouling problems would appear quite fast so they came up with a new blend that performed the same but wasn't damn near black powder levels of filth. They didn't change the primer type from 87 to 95 per say, still a double slotted berdan primer, they just switched to a non corrosive blend once again for ease of cleaning issues. (Corrosive is still commonly seen in other calibers as the advantage of corrosive being able to last for decades in storage and still fire reliably was long preferred.)
 
"Not having have much experience with lacquered steel cases (literally 25 rounds through a FAMAS), but the rapid build up of residue in the chamber surprised me. Is this an issue with 5.8x42mm?"
 
There's different reasons the French and the Chinese use steel cases, the French used it in the FAMAS because the action on it will brutalize soft brass cases to the point it will eventually stop the gun from functioning outright, this causes a side effect where, since even softer steels are much harder and less malleable than brass, they don't conform to the chamber as tightly when fired so, as a result some residue will slip by, it wouldn't shock me if the same issues applied to Chinese steel cased ammo but I'm not sure how hard it is compared to French Steel intended for the FAMAS.
 
But, to answer a question you may have on the difference between why it's used, it's simply because steel is cheaper than brass by a significant margin, hell, the US Armed Forces have looked into steel casings several times for the same reason and I think still are but it's never gone anywhere, @Sturgeon knows more about the various US steel cased drives than I do. (note the DBP10 appears on the outside to be copper, but it's simply washed in copper to feed and extract easier and is still steel underneath, same concept behind why most high end defensive ammunition in the US is brass plated with Nickel.)
 
"How about tracers for machine gun use? For example, the US issues belts of 200 rounds (four rounds of M855 ball/one round M856 tracer/M27 link) for its SAW. Is there a Chinese equivalent?"
 
They use the same 4-1 ratio that the US Armed Forces do for tracers.

"does it have a penetrator (ala SS109)?" Yes, every single round since the original DBP87 with the exception of some concept match grade round named DBU141 has a hard cast lead over hardened tool steel core. It's shorter in the DBP87/95 but very long in the DVP88 and DBP10.
 

 
And the odd man out.
 
The middle one is actually DBP95, however the only actual differences between DBP87 and 95 are the the powder used (It's burns cleaner) and the primer. (from corrosive to non corrosive) so it's a very small change.
 
"What’s its BC?" for which rounds exactly? either way I'll have to give rough calculations on some unless another member already has them.
 
"Is there an AP variant?" yes, DVC12, 85gr projectile with a hollow tip and a 54gr Tungsten core with a small lead ball between the tip and the nose to act as a "cap" and keep it stable in flight, appears to use the same very thick, hard H90 alloy jacket as DBP10.
 

Most likely there was just dirt stuck in the barrel...
 

Looks like a refugee from the bad vismods thread....

Apparently the Slovenian MoD has stated on its website, that initially enough Boxers will be purchased for just one battalion. According to earlier reports that would be about 50 vehicles.

DOT&E report on US active protection systems (Trophy on Abrams, Iron Fist on Bradley, Iron Curtain on Stryker):
 
http://www.dote.osd.mil/pub/reports/FY2017/pdf/army/2017aps.pdf

DOT&E report on US active protection systems (Trophy on Abrams, Iron Fist on Bradley, Iron Curtain on Stryker):
 
http://www.dote.osd.mil/pub/reports/FY2017/pdf/army/2017aps.pdf

Australia formalises Abrams upgrade, plus Abrams-based bridges, breachers, and armoured engineering vehicles. 
 
https://imgur.com/gallery/TfIpF

Australia formalises Abrams upgrade, plus Abrams-based bridges, breachers, and armoured engineering vehicles. 
 
https://imgur.com/gallery/TfIpF

Interesting. I’ve worked with Chris Wachsberger over the years - this is the same guy that spend years trying to get unitary vision/1x optics on every weapon as “only binoculars can be used to acquire targets”. 

http://dspace.dsto.defence.gov.au/dspace/bitstream/1947/3812/1/DSTO-GD-0003 PR.pdf
 
analysis on what different muzzle devices do to shot dispersion: FN Minimi. 

Olifant Optimal prototype
thx to Kaiserbill from secretprojects........