The very first delivery of machined component parts for the Boxer Mechanised Infantry Vehicles to WFEL’s Stockport manufacturing facility happened this week.

WFEL’s Boxer Warehouse and Quality teams received the delivery from Lancashire-based BCW Manufacturing Group, who have been selected as a nominated sub-contractor from an initial group of over 20 qualifying companies.

Image via WFEL.

“BCW have demonstrated compliance with the strict Quality and Engineering capability criteria required as part of WFEL’s world-class Supplier Approval Procedures. This process included a First Article Inspection which was completed satisfactorily prior to delivery.”Ā 

WFEL’s Managing Director, Ian Anderton, commented:

“I am extremely pleased with the roll-out of our UK supply chain for the Boxer vehicles for our British Army customer.Ā  This Ā£2.3bn programme is delivering economic benefits not just for WFEL but for many other companies around the UK, particularly in the North of England.Ā  This first delivery from BCW is another historic moment as we ramp up to begin the first-ever production of these Mechanised Infantry Vehicles in the UK.”

Nick Eary, Business Development Director, ANSUKA Group (BCW’s parent company) added:

“We are both delighted and proud to be part of the team contributing to the delivery of the new Boxer vehicles for the British Army.Ā  We have already built a strong relationship with WFEL’s Procurement Team, who know we can be relied on for this and potential future deliveries of specialist parts. It was particularly pleasing to be able to deliver the goods two weeks ahead of the requested delivery date.”Ā 

In November 2019, ARTEC, a joint venture between two German companies ā€“ Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall ā€“ signed the Ā£2.3bn contract to deliver 500+ Boxer vehicles to the British Army.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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81 COMMENTS

  1. Boxer in a very understated livery!
    Much like the British Army in the Zulu and First Boer War-scarlet tunics against the earthy colours of the South African veld!!ļ»æšŸ˜„ļ»æ

    • I think the idea behind the red tunics came from the days when armies took their positions and then engaged. Apparently it is harder to count troops at a distance when wearing red….that might be complete ballocks though!

      • Goodness knows. Every country had their national colours so I don’t think the actual colour served a meaningful purpose other than to tell who was with us and who was against us. If anything it would make them stand out more and inflate numbers. If you wanted to hide your numbers I’m sure they would have discovered camo back in the iron age.

      • I thought it was due to the fact red dye was the cheapest! Could be more complete bollocks though!

          • Well it is….. They have Chariots and Lions and footage of Jesus and everything….. and another thing, we got our TV from Radio Rentals and they are ancient history now. so there.ļ»æšŸ˜ļ»æ

          • I believe Hollywood, there are references to red being worn (Ceasar wearing a red cloak in battle so that his men could spot him, going by his own commentary) by individuals. But I’m unaware of any uniform standards in the Roman Army beyond unit markings painted on shields, and, given that practice was for Milites to procure their own equipment either from their own funds, or from a government issued equipment allowance, I suspect Roman Legions looked a lot more multicoloured than we often imagine them.

          • Really interesting this, Dern.

            From Marius reforms through the classical period of the empire up to Commodus ( where it started to go to rat **** ) depict red tunics beneath the Lorica Segmantata.

            Always wondered at the truth of it.

          • Lol! It’s true though, Commodus was a total b******rd compared to Marcus Aurelius.

          • I think it comes from Trajans Column, where the Romans portrayed the Legions as all wearing Segmentata and the Auxillaries as all wearing Hamata, and for a long time this was taken as gospel by schoalrship (I just perused my copy of Peter Connolly’s “Greece and Rome at War,” which is an excellent book, but was published in 1981 and is begining to show it’s age unfortunately, and sure enough he claims that the Legions only used Segmentata *edit* In the second century AD). Add in the unconscious bias we have developed in the modern world that professional armies are “uniform” and voila.
            More recently there’s been pushback, with arguments being made that the division in Trajans column is for public consumption (For example we know there was more variation in Roman Helmets than is depicted on the column), and that other depictions that are contemporary with the column show Legionaries in Scale and Maille armour.

            Interestingly even in Connolly I can flick through and find images of Legionaries in Blue, and I’ve seen re-encatment groups in Green. I do seem to recall Philip Matsyzak’s book mentioning something about coloured tunics, but will have to have a re-read (although it’s mostly a fun “infotainment” book rather than an actual reference, it’s the only mention of tunic colour I can think off right off the top of my head).
            *edit for clarity* See attached image from the Tropaeum Traiani which shows a legionary in what appears to be Lorica Squamata, contemporary to Trajans column.

          • Same, although my interest these days really lies with the early History of Rome, pre 3rd Punic War, and these days especially pre-Samnite War.

          • There is a story told that a British officer was captured by the French during the Napoleonic wars, and was asked by his captors why the British wore red, since it made them easier to see on the battlefield. The reply was that if an officer was wounded the blood would not show against the tunic and the men would not be downhearted. The French apparently took this to heart, and ever since then their officers have worn brown trousers. Iā€™m not sure itā€™s a true story, but it ought to be.

          • Interesting that the colour for a leader was purple! Hence taking the ‘purple’….as the Pope still does…and the Anglican Bishops!

          • Yes, because Senators where the highest (and theoretically wealthiest classes) in the Res Publica, althought the Equestrians also wore purple at various times. The process of making Purple dye was incredibly difficult and made it effectively out of reach of common people.
            Later on it went from a de facto law that only the wealthiest could wear purple to a de jure law (probably because commoners where amassing enough wealth to be able to afford purple, that’s usually why laws restricting luxury goods are passed).

          • That was because purple dye was hugely expensive and so only afforded by the most powerful people.

        • No it was indeed and much of the male commoner wear was that colour as a result. I guess during the formative years we were much more of a citizens army than say the French or Spanish who had a lot more money around for grandiose-ment too until the mid 18th century when fortunes began to change and I presume the colour stuck and became far more ‘luminous’ to match our competitors on the battlefield.

          • I believe initially Parliament was extremly anti-army, and a lot of the funding for it came out of the Kings own purse or the Colonels who raised the regiments. (Not unreasonably fearing that the King might use a big army to put Parliament back in it’s place after the restoration).

      • Red as a Uniform Colour goes back (allegedly) to the Spartans who wore red tunics. Certainly red was identified as the colour of the God of War, Mars and it is said Romans wore red tunics in the field, but white on parade as white was the colour of Citizenship. In Britain red as a Uniform Colour goes back to the New Model Army where all the infantry regiments wore red, whereas previously each regiment raised for either King or Parliament had adopted a unique colour. Monck’s Regiment of Foot under Parliament became the Coldstream Guards after the Restoration. Thereafter red continued as the main tunic colour more probably from habit, although a red tunics with white cross-border and a substantial shako was intended to be intimidating to the enemy when troops engaged at such close ranges.

        • Often frequent the pub/coaching Inn in Barnet Monck stayed in before bringing the King into London for the restoration…damn turncoat.

      • This must be true enough , as the same was said on a programme about the Grenadier guards, who wear the red Tunics in the summer.
        It was also said that the bearskins head dress was kept long at the front so that the enemy could not judge the position of the head .

      • I thought the idea was to hide the blood or is that a myth. Red however is the base colour of the BritishEnglish Army since before the days of Agincourt even if it were an earthy hue due to the dyes available (ironically much more camouflaged I suspect as a result). Truth is I think back then there wasn’t really a uniform and England didn’t even have a standing army and the most common tunic colour was that red.brown hue so probably became natural that it became the norm (and then gradually imposed) when they were recruited to form military units and the colour over time then became enhanced as true uniforms and better dies developed spurred on by the need for visual effect and discipline.

        Out of interest I think the green uniforms came out of the American Revolutionary war from what was a colonial Regiment before being amalgamated into the British army.

        And as I discovered only recently the RAF blue originated simply from the fact that when it became a separate force and needed differentiation and a uniform the tailor who supplied military uniforms (who still exists) had a whole load of blue cloth meant for Russian Imperial uniforms and offered it up to the RAF when it was no longer needed for that.

      • the reason why British soldiers wore red tunics was quite simple. When Cromwell’s New Model Army was created, so was a standard uniform. Red was the cheapest dye!

    • Aye, it does scream “Coo-eee, I’m over he-ere”. Maybe just going for the General Melchett approach.

    • ironically the red tunics became dusty and faded and so blended somewhat into the African veldt .Helmets were dyed with tea to darken them (so I’ve read anyway).

      • Seen colourised pics of that uniform Dave. It was a war that transited from the old to the age of the mechanised

  2. They are eventually going to build Boxers in that facility then? Only at this pace the build rate will be slower then the T26 if that’s possible!!!šŸ¤£

  4. Bit odd that the publicity goons can make a story out of two long wooden crates being delivered! They’re still banded, so no one knows what’s in them yet!

  5. On subject sort of. I have just seen some footage of the Jersey fracas on Sky News and the one segment showed a naval vessel flying the Belgian Naval Ensign!? Either the footage was incorrect off the shelf or are other EU Navies involved. very pretty Ensign btw-a saltire of the national colours on a white ground with a coupl of other symbols

  6. Afternoon all, why is it that some of you try to turn this brilliant site into some kind of personal platform for insults and racist comments all wrapped up in so called humour ? This is meant to be a serious site for serious discussions about all things defence related. Reading some of the comments on the Jersey fishing article, and in particular the anti French ones, I can’t help thinking it’s only a matter of time before this site gets reported or shut down due to it’s members comments. Look like the site admins have taken note too and removed the option of any further comments.

  9. Hopefully the rest of the vehicle parts will arrive soon and they can get started and we have no set backs or employment problem or order cutbacks.

  10. When they said first delivery of the new Boxer, they realy meant BOX, Its not from Ikea is it

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