In Development: Boxer RIWP

Commanders!

In our last articles about the upcoming Battle Path we’ve discussed the Boxer CRV Tier 9 Premium AFV and the Puma Tier 10 Premium AFV but now’s the time to show you the ultimate prize, for which we’ve chosen a very specific configuration of the Boxer platform – Boxer RIWP.

Boxer RIWP is a combination of two existing systems – the Boxer (Tracked) platform and the RIWP turret by MOOG. Let’s start with the first part. Boxer (Tracked) is a private venture by KMW, one of the manufacturers and developers of the original Boxer platform. It’s basically exactly what the name suggests – a modified Boxer hull with a tracked suspension similar to the one used on the Puma IFV. The vehicle appeared in the summer of 2022 at the EUROSATORY expo in Paris.

The advantages of such a platform are obvious – for KMW, at least, because they have produced a tracked platform with the same properties as the Boxer (it supports interchangeable modules) but with higher carrying capacity (up to 45 tons) and improved off-road capability (tracks are much better off-road than wheels, after all) for a fraction of cost of a completely new IFV. Moreover, the platform supports the same wide range of configurations as the original Boxer.

The unveiled version was fitted with the RCT120 turret armed with a 120mm low recoil smoothbore gun – in other words, it was in fire support or even light tank configuration. The tracked Boxer shown weighed some 40 tons (of which 28 tons was the Drive module), was powered by 1180hp MTU 881 CR diesel engine and could go as fast as 70 km/h (some sources claim even 100 km/h but that’s most likely an oversight based on the wheeled Boxer). The protection was basic steel presumably STANAG 4569 Level 3-4 (similar to the original Boxer) but it could be enhanced by pretty much anything on the market, from StrikeShield to Trophy.

It should be said that the vehicle that appeared at the expo was purely for demonstrational purposes and was nowhere near production-ready. As such, it didn’t attract any customers – couldn’t have, the finalized version is years away. But it is an interesting concept, especially for the countries already using the Boxers, especially the United Kingdom with its Ajax program that is, mildly put, problematic.

The vehicle became quite popular last summer amongst tank enthusiasts and quickly turned into an often-requested candidate for introduction into Armored Warfare. The biggest problem with it was, however, the general blandness of the concept. Light Tanks are quite difficult to use in the game and the RCT120 turret has little going for it. Simply put, it was boring. And this is where the RIWP turret comes in.

This turret (or weapons module, if you will) was developed by MOOG sometimes around 2013-2014 and has been evolving ever since. The word RIWP stands for Reconfigurable Integrated-weapons Platform and that’s exactly what this is – a combat module that can be fitted with pretty much any weapon system the customer desired. It’s an incredibly versatile platform that consists of the main turret (carrying a gun) and two optional pylons. The gun in question can be pretty much anything from a 7.62mm universal machinegun to a 30mm autocannon. The pylons can carry Stingers, TOWs, Javelins, Hellfires – almost anything you can think of.

It’s a service module too – it’s being used on Stryker SHORAD-M, the short-range air defense vehicle of the U.S. forces. That’s roughly the configuration we’ll be using, without the air-defense sensors of course. But the best part? It’s specifically listed as being compatible with the Boxer.

This is not as what-if configuration as you might think. The Boxer was already tested with the RIWP so it stands to reason that it can be fitted to the tracked Boxer as well. And that’s what we have for you. Let’s discuss the game performance then since this vehicle’s all about player choices.

In Armored Warfare, the Boxer RIWP will be a Tier 10 Premium Armored Fighting Vehicle.

Let’s discuss the more obvious things first and then get to the really interesting part, which is the weapon set. This AFV is exactly what you’d expect, the Tier 9 Boxer on tracks and will be obtainable by reaching Level 50 (the maximum level) of the Exile Battle Path.

It’s not that heavier than the Boxer (we estimate the RIWP configuration to be roughly 40 tons) but has a much more powerful engine (1180hp diesel), which means it’ll be relatively nimble and fast – think K21 XC-8 but better. The maximum speed will be limited to 70 km/h but the acceleration and agility will be nothing to scoff at (2.9s from 0 to 32 km/h, 45 degrees hull traverse). Protection-wise, we have Boxer armor with StrikeShield (same configuration) along with ROSY soft kill APS. It won’t do a lot of spotting with its 370m viewrange but it will have decent 25% camouflage rating. It’ll also have a crew of two and carry a sniper as a potential spotter aid.

And now to the really good stuff. The vehicle will offer you FIVE different turret configurations at your disposal. Each of them comes with two main weapons:

• 30mm autocannon (similar to the AbramsX one but will also feature a modern APFSDS round)
• 7.62mm machinegun

The weapons elevate to +60 degrees, depress to -20 degrees and the weapons station is, of course, unmanned. The configurations will look as such:

• Close Support – 4x7 70mm Hydra unguided rocket pods (fires two Hydras at once every 0.25s followed by 13s of reloading)
• Overhead Support – 4x TOW featuring standard TOW ATGMs but also TOW Aero roof-attack missiles (fires two missiles at once followed by 1.7s reload time, then the other two missiles and then the launchers reload 10 seconds)
• Long-Range Support – 4x Brimstone (fires two missiles at once followed by 2s reload time, then the other two missiles and then the launchers reload 22 seconds)
• Kinetic Support – 8x Starstreak (fires two Starstreaks at once every 1.25s followed by 10s of reloading)
• Hybrid Support – this configuration has a Javelin two-tube launcher on one side and Brimstone two-tube launcher on the other side that you can switch between, both fire two missiles at once (the Brimstone launcher reloads 11s and the Javelin launcher reloads 9s)

In case it was not obvious from the text above, all configurations fire two missiles/rockets at once, which makes them far deadlier due to the fact they can overwhelm APS easily enough. It’s also worth noting that we’ll be taking a look at the Javelin and TOW Aero (and similar system) conduct because these weapons have been underperforming as of late.

And that’s pretty much it, that’s the top prize. We hope you’ll enjoy it and are looking forward to telling you more about further improvements to the Battle Path.

See you on the battlefield!