What is special about these armored vehicles and what could be their special role?
During the ceremony of handing over the first RCH 155 self-propelled artillery system to the Armed Forces of Ukraine on January 13, 2025, in the German city of Kassel, KNDS Germany CEO Ralf Ketzel said that Ukraine could also receive the latest RCT30 Boxer wheeled armored vehicles.
The main feature of the RCT30 Boxer is the versatility of such armored vehicles, both as wheeled infantry fighting vehicles and for destroying various types of drones at short range. This is stated in the publication of the Hartpunkt portal.
As the authors of the publication detail, the RCT30 Boxer’s landing compartment can accommodate up to six equipped soldiers, and the armor is equipped with the RCT30 remote-controlled module, which is also used on the Puma tracked combat vehicle, which is why this module is also designated PuBo (i.e., “Puma Boxer”).
The armament of this module includes the 30-mm automatic 30 x 173 Rheinmetall MK30-2/ABM cannon, while the RCT30 or PuBo modules are manufactured by ARTEC, a joint venture between KNDS Germany and Rheinmetall. The RCT30’s special feature is the ability to engage not only ground targets but also drones to provide direct cover for infantry on the battlefield.
It is known that the Bundeswehr is currently planning to purchase 150 RCT30 armored vehicles for its grenadier units Mittlere Kräfte, the Netherlands – 72 wheeled armored personnel carriers of the RCT30 type.
At the same time, if we continue to talk about the versatility of the RCT30 Boxer, we should take into account the following detail.
At the aforementioned ceremony of handing over the RCH 155 to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany Oleksiy Makeev also spoke, and in particular announced the possibility of the Ukrainian army receiving Boxer-based vehicles designated Kommandobegleitfahrzeug (command escort vehicle) with a 30-mm automatic cannon.
Against this backdrop, it is logical to assume that the future Boxer-based Kommandobegleitfahrzeug with 30-mm guns for the Armed Forces of Ukraine may be the same RCT30, but may have a special function, such as escorting and covering the same RCH 155 self-propelled guns from enemy drones on the battlefield.
It should be noted that the first RCH 155 presented to our troops also has a remote-controlled module with a machine gun for self-defense. But this clearly needs to be supplemented, due to the dominance of different types of UAVs in modern warfare.
Source: Defence Express
