The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has cut £2 billion from front-line Army equipment, abandoning plans to develop three new types of military vehicle. One of the scrapped projects was designed to recover damaged or disabled Boxer armoured vehicles during combat.
The Boxer is an eight-by-eight-wheeled, all-terrain, armoured transport vehicle. The decision has raised concerns that the Army will lack the necessary recovery equipment to support the vehicles once deployed.
Warnings over stranded vehicles
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has been warned that scrapping the recovery project means Boxers could be left "stranded in full view of the enemy" with no means of recovering them, according to The Telegraph.
Ben Obese-Jecty, a retired soldier and the Shadow Defence Procurement minister, told The Telegraph: "With no repair and recovery assets to support Boxer in the field, it will be a near-impossible task to deploy any Boxer regiment operationally."
He added: "We quite literally risk the vehicles becoming stranded in full view of the enemy if they break down or are damaged."
Budget pressures and political response
John Healey is under pressure to address an estimated £4.7 billion gap in the defence budget, with the Government expected to identify savings across the MoD and other Whitehall departments.
The overall armed vehicle programme budget has been cut from more than £7 billion to just over £5 billion as a result of "funding removal following Army re-prioritisation."
James Cartlidge, the Shadow Defence Secretary, said: "They talk about increasing defence spending but then gut current procurement programmes to save cash. All because they are unable and unwilling to cut welfare to fund defence."
Boxer fleet details and MoD response
The Army is due to receive more than 600 Boxer vehicles, which will serve a range of roles, including transporting infantry, providing command facilities, and carrying out specialist support duties. Ambulance variants are also part of the programme. The full fleet is not expected to be delivered until at least 2031, although some vehicles have already begun arriving in Britain.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "There are no changes to our committed £2.2b budget over the next four years for the delivery of our 623 Boxer vehicles, which includes support vehicles. These changes relate to future spend that was uncommitted and we are exploring alternative options for maximum battlefield effectiveness."
